Customer Reviews

Quick Compendium of Surgical Pathology

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Quick compendium of surgical pathology by Stephen Ramsburgh

768 pages long, the book contains a wealth of well organized information. The book is divided into the traditional anatomic locations, i.e. cardiovascular, endocrine etc. Within these anatomic divisions there is a brief introduction intraoperative consultations and specimen handling, followed by a series of discrete diseases. Since the author is a former general surgeon who is now a practicing surgical pathologist, the intraoperative consultations carry particular weight. Each disease contains information about the clinical manifestations, a description of the gross and microscopic appearance, special stains including immunhistochemistry, molecular alterations and differential diagnosis. Information on disease treatment and prognosis are also included, which can help complete one's understanding of the disease. This is not an atlas of pathology, so by design, there are no microscopic pictures for any of the diseases. For some readers this will be strength since a single, static microscopic image usually does not capture the range of histologic features. Others will find the lack of pictures discomforting, since they will not be able to match the glass slide on their microscope with a picture in the book.

The book is best suited for pathology residents, fellows and attending physicians to gather quick information about the disease. It will be less useful for medical students attempting to make a diagnosis on a given glass slide in a study set. However, the teaching of pathology to medical students has evolved beyond the simple exercise of matching glass slides to specific diagnoses, so this will should not be a significant drawback.

Cons: No microscopic images, but this may actually be a strength.

Pros: Well organized, information rich, up to date and comprehensive. The clinical information is useful and not easily obtained in a concise format.