Abstract
Veterinary Comparative Hematopathology is a comprehensive book (558 pages), mainly on hematopoietic neoplasia, by an outstanding veterinary pathologist who has had a deep passion for lymphoma and pathology for 35 years. The book includes related subjects such as normal and nonneoplastic changes in hematopoietic tissues, leukemias, myelodysplasia, and histiocytic disorders. It is filled with practical details on diagnostic criteria, many photographic examples, epidemiology, incidence, clinical features, and response to treatment when known. Species covered include dog, cat, man, cow, and horse. It thus makes for an extremely effective tool for the diagnostic pathologist.
The book is new, and it is easy to read and very well illustrated, often with 4 photomicrographs per page. Illustrations are usually of high quality and illustrate 1 or more important changes. Some photos have nuclei too dark to see chromatin detail well. The index allows one to find information quickly in the text. References appear appropriate. Immunologic aspects of various cell types are discussed, but flow cytometric diagnoses of lymphoma and other hematopoietic neoplasms are not presented. Histopathologic diagnosis with help of immunohistochemical staining is elegantly and comprehensively presented.
This reviewer paid $200 from his own pocket at the 2007 ACVP meeting, as did many others I spoke with. Any institution can cover the book’s cost by receipts from 4 histopathologic fees. The book easily will pay for itself during its first week by the microscope. It is so well written and meaningful that this reviewer read it like a novel at least through chapter 4 (T-Cell and NK-Cell Neoplasms), and then used it more sporadically for various cases that required some of Dr. Valli’s advice. Although a practical tool, the book also discusses theory, basic science, and pathophysiology of the various diseases. Ted Valli has an understanding of these diseases rivaled by few or none. It is fitting that at the end of his long and productive career, Dr. Valli has put so many of his observations, thoughts, pictures, cases, and readings into a book that can be used by many. The book will be valuable to all pathologists who make a diagnosis of lymphoma and other hematopoietic disorders or who teach about them. It should be required reading for all pathology and clinical pathology residents. The book is unique except for individual chapters on these topics in other books, such as Schalm’s Veterinary Hematology (Wiley–Blackwell, 2000) and Jubb, Kennedy, and Palmer’s Pathology of Domestic Animals (Saunders, 2007). The book is exceedingly well suited to its purpose and is well recommended.