Molavi The Practice of Surgical Pathology

The second edition retains the informal and conversational voice, the brevity, and the goals of the first edition, but with new chapters, updated material, and expanded sections. The book is directed at the junior pathology resident, and goes first through some very basic introductory material, then progresses through each organ system. Within each chapter, there is a brief review of salient normal histology, a discussion of typical specimen types, a strategic approach to the specimen with a list of what to look for, and a discussion of how the multitude of different diagnoses relate to each other. The level of detail is necessarily scant, but the aim is not to provide a comprehensive text or atlas. Instead the goals are twofold: 1) to provide a chapter that can be read in 20 minutes or less, providing the resident with a logical and informed approach to the biopsy/resection, and 2) to sketch out the roadmap of the organ system, touching on the less common entities and how they fit into the bigger picture. This lays the foundation of practical pathology for the intern, building a scaffold on which to hang the details of more advanced books and lectures. 

Although the material covered in the book has a long shelf life due to its emphasis on basic underlying concepts in pathology, some elements of tumor classification have changed significantly over the last decade, necessitating revisions to many of the chapters. Updates are critical to maintain the book’s reputation as a foundation of resident education, and to ensure that future classes of interns will continue to purchase the book at the start of training. Updates include:

• Updated classification of lung carcinomas, ovarian carcinomas, endometrial neoplasia, neuroendocrine tumors, and hepatic adenomas, to name a few
  
• Molecular classification of hematopoietic tumors, soft tissue neoplasms, and others
  
• Revised “core curriculum” on immunostains, reflecting new first-line markers in the classification of tumors
  
• A significantly expanded chapter on bone tumors, with new color figures and radiologic-pathologic correlations
  
• Brand new material in two entirely new chapters covering spleen and thymus, as well as new additions to the “Ditzels” chapter, by popular demand