Gray W and McKee G:

Diagnostic Cytopathology, Second Edition, 1100 pp, city, Churchill Livingstone, 2002 ($295.00).

Diagnostic Cytopathology, Second Edition is aimed at practicing and training pathologists as well as screening personnel. The book is easy to read and well organized. Color-coded main topic sections serve as thumb indexes and are coordinated to match the table of contents, making the sections very quick and easy to find. Also useful are the topic and subtopic headings within each chapter. The organization of each chapter remains constant throughout the book, making each subtopic exceptionally easy to find.

There are summaries of “Cytological Findings” at the beginning of each diagnostic entity in a bulleted format for a quick glimpse of the “nitty-gritty” of what one needs to know, followed by an extensive explanation and expansion of each finding. These sections give brief and to-the-point explanations of nuclear features, grouping patterns, cytoplasmic features, and even staining patterns where appropriate. The expansions that follow give more detail and essentially everything one needs to know about a given sample. There are “Cytological Findings” sections not only for each diagnostic entity, but also for many given techniques for that entity. For example, findings in washings are in a separate section from findings in brushings. This makes for much more specific information and is extremely useful.

The “Cytological Findings” sections are followed by “Diagnostic Pitfalls” sections for each case. These sections are also quite useful, not only for those in training, but for experienced pathologists as well. These sections cover “why it isn’t” another entity and answer many questions before they are asked. The “Diagnostic Pitfalls” also give helpful information on the alternative diagnoses as well as suggestions for further testing.

The photomicrographs are plentiful and of excellent quality, with helpful legends and appropriate referencing within the text. The tables throughout the book are invaluable for organizing large amounts of information, and we found them exceptionally easy to follow.

In general, this reviewer is impressed by the Diagnostic Cytopathology, Second Edition and would highly recommend it for practicing pathologists, fellows, and residents as well as screening personnel as a bench reference.