This book is a beautiful presentation of the variety of pathological conditions which are found in veterinary medicine. Twenty chapters divided according to mechanisms of infection as well as organ system involvement cover many pathological conditions. The book is subdivided into two sections.
Section I covers general pathology with six chapters dedicated to Cellular Adaptation, Injury & Death; Vascular Disorders/Thrombosis; Inflammation/Healing; Mechanisms of Microbial Infection; Disease of Immunity and finally Neoplasm & Tumor Biology. These chapters are very well written with detailed explanations as well as beautiful illustrations and line drawings. The photographs are first rate and impressive.
Section II addresses the pathology of organ systems and encompasses the remaining fourteen chapters. Much as with the first section, the second section is well written in detail and relies more on photographs than line drawings giving the reader a method of comparison, especially when necropsy is performed. Both gross and microscopic evidence is presented along with the expertise of twenty-five contributing authors for each organ system, again in extreme detail.
New in this addition are discussions on the genetic basis of disease, diseases of the eyes and ears (Chapter 20), ligaments and tendons (Chapter 16) as a well as microbial life and their contribution to infection (Chapter 4). Additionally as is being seen more often in Elsevier textbooks, there is a dedicated and enhanced Evolve site that gives the reader study guides as well as a phenomenal image collection and links directly into PubMed resources; all great additions for those researching various pathological topics. This is a great addition for instructors and educators as they write lesson plans as well as power-point presentations for their class. Students also benefit as there are study guides and other resources that the diligent student will find quite useful.
All in all, this is a beautiful book that has a lot of potential and any scientific bibliophile will “have to have.” It has a lot of potential in terms of educational benefit for veterinary students. The book will make a lovely resource for veterinary technicians as they study and write papers requiring in depth discussion on veterinary pathology topics; however, beyond this, due to its detail may have limited value. For veterinary technician educators, the book may be useful as a resource for their personal/professional library. For this reason, the book is given a 3 out of 5 star rating.
Publisher: Elsevier Health (2012)
ISBN: 978-0-323-07533-6