Diagnostic Pathology: Neuropathology, 2e

Book Preface

Until only two decades ago, it was quite sufficient to diagnose surgical neuropathology material based on routine hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained sections, and the information gleaned from these sections was often sufficient to characterize tumors and categorize nonneoplastic processes. This practice has been sufficient for the clinicians in a majority of the diseases. The routine H&E stain still constitutes the critica l starting point for surgical neuropathology today.

Yet, the explosion of new methods and models, advances in radiological, clinical, morphological, and molecular aspects of diseases, as well as the increasing options for different treatment modalities require frequent updating of “classical” textbooks and revision of diagnostic algorithms. The revision of this book was prompted by this necessity and the desire to continue the remarkable works of two giants in diagnostic neuropathology. Like the original work, the collaborative effort of the authors provides a pragmatic, visually satisfactory, and user-friendly reference for the everyday surgical pathologist. Much is changing in the world of CNS neoplasia, and the modifications in this book reflect the changing times and the adoption of the “integrated diagnosis” that merges the old with the new methodology to provide a better guide for our colleagues.

Many chapters have been substantially updated, and all have been revised with new images and additional information. There is a new contributor to many chapters, and the readers will notice a change in the listing of authors for chapters with extensive revisions. This book remains the product of collaborative work, hours of deliberation, and careful consideration of the practical facts and key issues that will immediately attract the reader’s attention. Our goal was to provide a reference that can be used in daily signout sessions and for teaching activities of our colleagues. We hope that the practicing pathologists at all levels—residents, fellows, academicians, and private practitioners—will find this work equally fun and useful and easy to navigate.

We are, as we always will be, grateful to our mentors, whom we owe the ability to carry on their journey with the hopes that our students will see even wider horizons. We are also grateful to all those countless workers in our divisions and in Elsevier, who tirelessly tried to make this book come alive. The search for better understanding and cures continues.