essentially aimed. This is particularly evident in thechapter on genetic mechanisms, where moleculartechniques are listed without much explanation, forexample Southern, Northern and Western blotting, aswell as the use of single strand conformation poly-morphisms, positional cloning, and so on.

The book contains few errors, which are mostly of aminor typographical nature but, unfortunately, one ortwo may lead to conceptual confusion for the novice.One which stands out in particular involves theparagraph on disseminated intravascular coagulationon p. 231, in which the coagulation times are said to bereduced, where they are in fact prolonged.

The key point summaries at the end of each chapter

and the glossary of terms are both useful features.For the most part, this book ful®ls its aim to provide

students of medicine and the health sciences with

`essential information about the disease process and

the mechanisms of cell biology and general pathology'.

It does so in an easily readable form and, as promised,

as painlessly as possible!

Nicola Syme-GrantDepartment of Pathology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School,

Dundee

Infectious Disease Pathology: Clinical Cases.

G. L. Woods, V. J. Schnadig, D. H. Walker and W. C.Winn. Butterworth Heinemann, Boston, MA, 2000.

No. of pages: xiii+304. Price: £90. ISBN: 0 7506 9673 7

This handsomely produced book on ID pathology is a

cross between a clinical case studies compendium and

an atlas. It originates from pathologists in Texas,

USA. The preface indicates that the intended reader-

ship includes practising pathologists, trainees, IDphysicians, and medical students (though most of thetopics are way above the GMC core curriculum). Theopening chapter is a brief introduction on how todiagnose infectious agents in tissues, with ± correctly ±the prime emphasis on morphology. The main corpusis 85 actual cases organized under organ systems, e.g.`Viral pneumonia in an immuno-compromised host',`Fever and pancytopenia in a previously healthy man',

Diagnostic Pathology of Parasitic Infections with Clinical

Correlations (2nd edn).

Yezid Gutierrez, MD, MPH&TM, PhD. Oxford UniversityPress, New York, 2000. No. of Pages: 769. Price:$198.50. ISBN: 0 19 512 143 0

It must be said at the very outset that this is a libraryreference textbook rather than a bench book. The aimof the book is to provide a comprehensive text for thediagnostic characteristics of parasites in tissue sections.Though it is intended for the histopathologist, for mostpathologists in Europe and the UK, parasitologyproblems arise in the occasional exotic case in animmigrant or a returning holiday-maker.

This is a massive text of 752 pages plus acomprehensive index. The book is divided into sixparts, ®ve of which cover the conventional areas ofparasitology; the sixth part is a very interesting sectionon differential diagnosis. This is a list of organ systemsand tissues with an anatomical site and parasite andthe location of the parasite within the cells orinterstitium, etc.

The text is very comprehensive and includes thelatest molecular and immunological aspects of parasiticdiseases. The recent explosion in the diseases producedby Microspora in immuno-suppressed patients is dealtwith in an admirable early chapter in the ®rst part ofthe book, which deals with Protists. There are alsogood chapters on Leishmaniae, trypanosomes, andamoebae, the parasites that are familiar to mostpathologists. Each chapter is subdivided into sectionson morphology including light and electron micro-scopy, life cycles including reproduction, geographicaldistribution, and classi®cation. Clinical ®ndings arealso included and are very helpful when it is necessaryfor the pathologist to correlate ®ndings.

In the second chapter of this section, Giardia lamblia

are beautifully illustrated in black and white sections of

duodenal biopsies ± a not uncommon problem in

diagnostic pathology in the UK. Throughout the text,

the black and white photographs and photomicro-

graphs are clear and well described ± a very useful

attribute of the book which will be particularly

appreciated by the casual browser. The chapter on

leishmaniasis is particularly comprehensive and the

other chapters on trypanosomes and amoebae are also

deep sources of knowledge.The chapter on malaria is an absolute gem of

information, but because of the emphasis on tissue

sections, the phases of the parasite in RBCs is cursorily

dealt with. A few more life-cycle diagrams and colour

plates of blood ®lms would have been invaluable for

the occasional seeker of malarial parasites in smears.There is a chapter on Enterobius vermicularis ± the

common pin-worm seen in sections of the appendix ±

with very good illustrations. Other round and ¯at

worms get a chapter each. Pneumocystis carinii, now

classi®ed as a fungus, does not get a mention in this

text.The nearest comparable text is Manson's Tropical

Diseases, which is still a comprehensive text of

parasitology and a classic in its own right. However,

my personal favourite from student days is Parasitol-

ogy by K. D. Chatterjee, the 12th edition of which was

last published in 1980. Subsequent to the author's

death, the book continues to ¯ourish in the under-

graduate medical student population in India and is

still available in pirated prints. The most endearing

quality of this book was its brevity and the clear line

drawings of complicated life cycles.

Hoshang BharuchaDepartment of Pathology, Queen's University of Belfast

Book Review 277

Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J Pathol 2001; 193: 276±278.

and `Granulomatous infection of soft tissue'. The ®nalsection is sets of illustrations, side by side, of theappearances of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.

The cases comprise clinical history, pathology ®nd-ings, differential diagnosis (i.e. comparative morphol-ogy), microbiology, and comment. Life cycles areindicated and pathophysiology is summarized. Theillustrations include cytopathology (smears, FNA,lavage, brushing) as well as histopathology using afull range of special stains, immunocytochemistry, andEM. Some gross clinical and organ photographs aregiven; about half the illustrations are in black andwhite, the rest in colour. The special stains come outbest, with many of the H&E photographs being tooblue. The cytology illustrations are particularly good.

It is always easy to ®nd fault with someone else'soeuvre, and to be picky. I would note a few importantinfections that are not covered properly in the casetexts: visceral leishmaniasis, alveolar hydatid, schisto-somiasis, tuberculoid leprosy, mycetoma. Also, someof the illustrations are not high power enough to reallysee the features (e.g. erlichiosis). It is slightly confusingto see intestinal amoebiasis illustrated in discussion ofa case of small intestinal ulceration. However, a goodnumber of awkward cases and scenarios are wellcovered, such as Lyme disease, non-tuberculous myco-bacteriosis, the distinction of Leishmania amastigotesfrom histoplasmas, nocardiosis, and RSV and otherviral respiratory infections.

It is evident that this book is intended to encouragean inquisitive perspective on ID pathology, to showpathologists how to con®rm and exclude a range ofinfectious agents and arrive at a diagnosis. Collabora-tion with clinician and microbiology department isespoused. The chapters are so arranged that knowingthe clinico-pathological problem, a systematicapproach to diagnosis can be followed, i.e. not byagent, which presupposes one knows the answer beforestarting.

Does the volume succeed? Yes, to the extent that it

will be used in the biopsy and autopsy reporting room

setting, and will enlarge the range of infectious agents

that trainees and consultants are aware of. The

comparable texts, that is, with colour illustrations and

an up-to-date ID approach and range, are few. Oribel

and Ash's Parasites in Human Tissues (ASCP Press)

illustrates beautifully the morphology of parasites, but

with little clinical, gross or host-reaction information.

The successor to the famous 1976 AFIP fascicles is

Connor and Chandler's Pathology of Infectious Dis-

eases (Appleton & Lange, 1997, 2 vols); this covers

everything broadly, with enough on differential diag-

nosis to be useful ± but you have to know where to

start, since it is organized taxonomically. So, this

volume is a welcome addition, and reasonably priced.The book highlights a serious problem in cellular

pathology training and continuing education in the

UK (at least; probably in other countries too). Since

departments are increasingly organized for practice

and training along the lines of organs and cancer

groups, how do pathologists get good at recognizing

and advising on infections, which often cut cross organ

systems? The regional variation in infection preva-

lences (more than 70% of the UK's HIV/AIDS is

concentrated in London, and transplantation is

increasingly concentrated) also makes for uneven

experience of ID pathology. Infections undoubtedly

need more attention in the courses and symposia

organized for pathologists. Most of those who are

interested in ID pathology have just learned by doing

(i.e. getting it wrong the ®rst time, then right there-

after). Expertise and teaching need to be organized

more systematically ± like that for cancer groups ±

than the haphazard situation at present, with just a few

diagnostic histopathologists interested.

Sebastian LucasDepartment of Histopathology, GKT School of Medicine, St Thomas'

Hospital, London

278 Book Review

Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J Pathol 2001; 193: 276±278.