Diagnostic Surgical Pathology

I want to see the chapter of renal disease and neoplasm

A publication such as this is usually first purchased during your pathology residency training. In my experience as a 3rd year pathology resident, I have found that there are essentially 2 choices for a general reference. The first is this book and the second is "Ackerman's Surgical Pathology" (Rosai Ed.). All of the other general surgical pathology texts I have had a chance to peruse seem to be lacking some critical features of one kind or another. When you have narrowed it down to those two, it then becomes a matter of style. Sternberg has a definite edge when it comes to tables and charts. Ackerman probably has slightly more illustrations. I feel that the writing style in both is fairly readable. Of course, that varies from section to section as each chapter has different authors. My choice is Sternberg, mainly because of the aforementioned tables. I find them very helpful for comparing different but similar entities.

This text covers all of the fields of surgical pathology which would be encountered by the "general" practicing surgical pathologist. Subject topics tend to focus upon practical diagnostic criteria and the accompanying pictures are ALL color and superb. Pitfalls of diagnosis are covered and many sections include clinical pathologic correlations to aid the surgical pathologist in understanding the implications of his/her diagnosis in terms of therapy and prognosis. Clearly, any text written with the goal of covering "all" areas encountered in surgical pathology cannot be exhaustive. But that is not its aim. The target audience is pathology residents-in-training and the busy practicing pathologist -- those who need a concise and accurate of summary, with representative pictures, for the vast majority of tissue disorders encountered in medicine. It is indispensable. Kim Murph