Media Review

Medically Important Fungi: A Guide to

Identification – 5th Edition
Written by Davise H. Larone, PhD
485 pages. Washington, DC: ASM Press, 2011. $109.95. ISBN: 978-1555816605.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/labmed/article/45/2/e68/2657930 by guest on 11 July 2021

Lab Med Spring 2014;45:e68-e69

DOI: 10.1309/LMW8AT6W4EUIXYBP

This book is like a fine
wine: it gets better with
age, and fungi are the
main reason. As the
master crafts(wo)man
critically reviews each
year’s harvest and the
wine produced, so
has Dr Larone critically
reviewed each edition of
Medically Important Fungi:
A Guide to Identification
and produced a superior
product in the next vintage.
I remember the early editions of this text, with their soft
covers, and how beaten and worn they were by the time
the next edition had been published. The author of a
bench-top guide could not ask for a greater compliment.
I am always concerned when transitions are made from
the softcover to the hardcover edition of a book. Too
often, the formerly well-thumbed guide is transformed
by this cover change into a textbook that finds its place
on a dusty shelf. This is not so with Larone’s Medically
Important Fungi, which successfully survived this
transition, which occured with the publication of the 4th
edition. One may ask, “How did this text escape the
fate of so many others before it?” The answer is simple:
the content.
In this edition, Dr Larone has retained a partitioning of
the text into easily useable categories that afford the
laboratorian the opportunity to move quickly to the
portion of text wherein differential identification appears.
I appreciate that the text begins with safety information.
This is followed by a section on the direct microscopic
examination of clinical specimens. This section contains
important information on terminology; the inflammatory
response to fungi; stains used for the detection and
identification of fungi; and finally, the classic drawings
that have made this text so popular. This section could
be improved by the addition of photographs, as have
been added elsewhere in the text. The publishers should
consider embedding the color images throughout the text,
rather than sequestering them in the back as color plates.
The subsequent section, “Detailed Descriptions,” consists
of a thorough grouping of mycoses that describes the
etiologic agent, the anatomic sites usually infected,
the tissue reactions produced, and the morphology of
the infecting organism. As I mentioned earlier herein,
the drawings and images are of high quality; however,
presenting them in color would be an improvement.

The next portion of the text, the “Guide to Identification

of Fungi in Culture,” should be a must-read part of the
mycology portion of every medical technology school.
Reviewer Students of mycology need the information conveyed
Gary W. Procop, MD therein to begin their transformation into mycologists.
This section takes the incredibly complex kingdom of the
Chair, Molecular Pathology, and Director, Medical Mycology, Cleveland fungi and separates and segregates it into meaningful
Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio groupings in which the most common medically
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. important fungi are denoted, with reference pages
E-mail: procopg@ccf.org included. Thereafter appears the “Detailed Descriptions”

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portion of the text, which for me has always been the
heart of the text.
“Detailed Descriptions” includes the salient features of
the filamentous bacteria, yeast and yeast-like organisms,
thermally-dimorphic fungi, and the subcategories of the
thermally monomorphic molds. The descriptions are
succinct and to the point; they are perfect for use on the
bench. This section briefly denotes the pathogenicity
of the fungus, provides the colonial and microscopic
features, and provides important biophysical profile and
growth-rate data, often presented in clear tabular form.
www.labmedicine.com Spring 2014  |  Volume 45, Number 2   Lab Medicine  e69
Media Review
Next, the “Laboratory Technique” section clearly
describes the media, stains, and methods used by
mycologists in the practice of their craft. The color plates
follow; as I mentioned earlier herein, these would be
more effective if embedded throughout the text at the
appropriate locations. A well-illustrated glossary and
recommended reading list brings this excellent text to
a natural conclusion. Dr Larone, this shiny, new hard-
covered edition of the text will soon be just as worn by
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use as my copy of its first edition—my compliments
again to you. LM