Potter's Pathology of the Fetus, Infant and Child.

Potter's Pathology of the Fetus, Infant and Child.

Author:	Husain, Aliya N.
Pub Date:	07/01/2008
Publication:	Name: Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Publisher: College of American Pathologists Audience: Academic; Professional Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Health Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 College of American Pathologists ISSN: 1543-2165
Issue:	Date: July, 2008 Source Volume: 132 Source Issue: 7

Accession Number:	230247091
Full Text:	Potter's Pathology of the Fetus, Infant and Child Vols 1 and 2, 2nd ed, Enid Gilbert-Barness (Editor), Raj P. Kapur and Luc L. Oligny (Associate Editors), Joseph R. Siebert (Assistant Editor), 2444 pp, with illus, with CD-ROM, Philadelphia, Pa, Mosby, 2007. Dr Edith L. Potter (1901-1993) was professor of pathology at the Chicago Lying in Hospital and University of Chicago Medical School and laid the foundation of fetal and pediatric pathology with her books (published in 1952, 1961, and 1977, the last with John Craig). She based these on her great experience with more than 10000 autopsies that she had performed and beautifully illustrated the anatomy, histology, radiology, and infectious aspects of fetal and neonatal pathology. Twenty years later, Dr Gilbert-Barness ushered in a new era by greatly expanding the book, making it multiauthored and including the massive increase in knowledge in genetics, molecular diagnostics, ultrasonography, and developmental biology. I feel honored and privileged to review the second edition of the "Potter book" published in 2007. I remember feeling awed when I was reviewing the first edition 10 years ago and thinking that here was a book that would be difficult to improve on. I am pleased to report that Dr Gilbert-Barness has accomplished just that by bringing together the international expertise of 43 contributing authors and expanding the scope of Pathology of the Fetus and Infant by making it Pathology of the Fetus, Infant and Child. This provides us with a superb and comprehensive book that covers all topics from conception to adulthood and can be referred to for issues arising in both autopsy and surgical pathology. This 2-volume text has 41 chapters organized into 4 parts: part I, "Pathogenesis of Fetal and Infantile Disorders"; part II, "Examination of the Fetus and Infant"; and part III, "Major Anomalies of External Anatomy or In-situ Relationships" in the first volume; and part IV, "Systemic Pathology" in the larger second volume. This logical organization makes it much easier to remember which volume contains what. Each chapter has been updated and new chapters added to include the latest advances in molecular genetics, developmental pathology, immunopathology, and DNA technology. Detailed description of normal development and its genetic controls introduce each organ system, which greatly facilitates understanding the congenital anomalies. The text is illustrated and enhanced by more than 2500 tables, drawings, and illustrations. It is a pleasure to see the gross and microscopic pictures, the majority in color, which are of superb quality and sharply in focus (with only rare exceptions such as Figure 33-29). Hundreds of references are given for each chapter that include both the classic and the new publications. In this age of Web-based availability of information, one could question the usefulness of a large 2-volume paper text. However, there is great comfort in knowing that almost all that one would need or want to know about pediatric pathology is available on one's shelf for easy reference. I like to open a book and be able to not only read the specific topic but also be able to flip through the pages and selectively read and look at the pictures. However, for the electronically gifted, a CD-ROM version is included. In summary, this book continues the tradition of excellence established by Dr Edith Potter and sets the bar so high that it will be difficult for any other textbook to achieve the depth and breadth of knowledge of pediatric pathology covered here. It is a "must have" for all medical libraries, pathology departments, and pathologists and trainees interested in pediatric pathology. ALIYA N. HUSAIN, MD Chicago, Ill
Gale Copyright:	Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

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