Book Review

Diagnostic Pathology of Infectious Diseases

N Engl J Med 1994; 330:72January 6, 1994

Article

Diagnostic Pathology of Infectious Diseases
By Gail L. Woods and Yezid Guitierrez, with David H. Walker, David T. Purtilo, and John D. Shanley. 656 pp., illustrated. Philadelphia, Lea and Febiger, 1993. $95. ISBN: 0-8121-1604-6

In the brave new world of the immunocompromised host, we are faced with infections by ever more exotic organisms, as well as novel patterns of disease caused by agents we thought we understood. Moreover, drug-resistant strains of conventional organisms have resulted in the reemergence of diseases we had gratefully consigned to history. It is with relief, therefore, that the beleaguered pathologist can turn to two new books on the diagnostic pathology of infectious diseases. One, reflecting a lifetime of experience by Dr. Franz von Lichtenberg (Pathology of Infectious Diseases. New York: Raven Press, 1991), is geared to the specialist in morbid anatomy. Diagnostic Pathology of Infectious Diseases by Woods et al. takes a complementary approach, embodying the perspective of the clinical or laboratory pathologist.

The book is organized in three parts. The first relates to pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions, and the second, which is the core of the book, takes a systematic approach to viruses, bacteria and chlamydias, fungi and algae-like organisms, and animal parasites. The third part is devoted to handling specimens, and a brief appendix describes methods.

Particularly instructive are the section on virology and the chapter on rickettsias, contributed by no less an authority than Dr. David Walker. Both are clearly illustrated and up to date, oriented toward the nonspecialist, and as readable accounts of these conditions as can be encountered. The cartoon-like drawings of viral structure are particularly adept. The section on animal parasites suffers by comparison, however, since it contains little that is not in standard works of the kind and skimps on information about some organisms relevant to the population with AIDS, such as Enterocytozoon bieneusi and cyclospora.

In most sections, the scope and size of the book limit the depth of coverage and make it inadequate for the specialist microbiologist. The authors have succeeded, however, in filling the need for a suitable reference for their intended audience of general pathologists, medical technologists, and clinicians interested in the laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases. The book will be particularly welcomed by pathology residents and their teachers. The work is also a moving tribute to one of the authors, Dr. David Purtilo, who died before it was complete.

Jonathan W. Said, M.D.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048