Lack EE:

Pathology of the Pancreas, Gallbladder, Extrahepatic Biliary Tract, and Ampullary Region, 608 pp, New York, Oxford University Press, 2003 ($198.50)..

To “keep the production costs low,” many American medical publishers often illustrate their well-written books with substandard illustrations. This amazing book proves them wrong and shows that even here (i.e., not only in Hong Kong or the UK!) it is possible to produce a reasonably priced monograph, amply illustrated with high-quality color photographs. I am also urging my colleagues and residents, who rely exclusively on thick multiauthored compilations, passing for textbooks, to see how much more one could get from a detailed single-authored monograph. I would also urge all those contemplating writing a book to study this one, emulate it, and/or use it as a prototype for their own future work.

This is a scholarly contribution to surgical pathology of a rather complex anatomic region. It was written by a seasoned pathologist who obviously has a passion for his subject. He took time to study this field by perusing numerous papers, and above all constructed the corpus of the book on his own experience and problems encountered in daily practice. He must have interacted well with other clinicians because the book has a definitive clinical tilt, with frequent references to radiology and surgery. The correlation of pathologic and clinical data is one of the strong points, and such discussions can be found in almost every chapter.

The author displays his incredible erudition or almost every page, but the thing that I liked the most are discussions of important original articles and especially those advocating controversial or contradictory approaches. This adds to a balanced presentation, which is almost always followed by the author’s own take on the problem under discussion.

The author also happens to be a very good (and sometimes rather witty) writer and stylist and a master photographer. The color microphotographs and macrophotographs complement and amplify the text and are almost as important as the written words. An artist provided numerous, very informative original color illustrations. To add a touch of class, the author has included even photographs of ‘human interest,’ such as the official portrait of Sister Mary Joseph (of the umbilical metastasis fame), or the classic book of Brunner (known for the duodenal glands), and amusing snippets from the literature.

I recommend this book to all clinicians dealing with biliary and pancreatic disease, but, above all, I endorse it as the best book on these topics for practicing pathologists and residents. I have consulted it in my surgical pathology practice and found it very useful. My colleagues and residents liked it also, and I hope you will like it as well. On the other hand, if your budget is limited, do not forget to suggest it to your central library.