George Laskaris: Color Atlas of Oral Diseases, 3rd edn, Thieme, Stutgart ($149.00).

This superbly updated atlas includes almost every disease, both common and rare, which occurs in the oral and maxillofacial region. This edition contains four new chapters and 135 new color plates with a total number of 777 extremely high-quality images. The scope is broad based ranging from developmental and genetic abnormalities to infectious, immunologic, and vesiculobullous diseases. Neoplastic conditions and cutaneous lesions of the facial region are well illustrated. The text is current and includes sections on differential diagnosis, diagnostic tests, and treatment. Unfortunately for pathologists, there is little discussion of the histopathology. References are numerous and up to date but are not numbered or footnoted in the text. They are only broadly subdivided into major categories such as ‘Skin Disease’, which makes finding references laborious.

I would recommend this atlas for anyone in medicine who has an interest in head and neck pathology and especially for otolaryngologists, dermatologists, and dermatopathologists. The color plates by themselves are worth the price. I wish a CD was available for presentations.