Vet Dermatol 2017; 28: 258
12434
Book Review
Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease, 6th Edition.
Edited by James F. Zachary. Elsevier, St Louis, MO, 2017,
(1,394), ISBN 978-0-3233-5775-3, Price $159 US.
The 6th edition of Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease
continues the legacy of this series of well-organized text-
books describing the basis of disease in animals. As
described in the preface, this book is aimed primarily at
veterinary students. However, due to the clearly
explained mechanisms and the wide range of diseases
discussed in all species, this is the book that I recom-
mend to pathology residents and I often use this book for
quick reference as a diagnostic pathologist.I thoroughly
recommend this book to veterinary students and patholo-
gists, but I also believe that veterinary dermatologists will
find the book a useful resource. There are two general
areas that I believe will be especially useful to dermatolo-
gists.First, the chapters on diseases of the skin and ear
are extensive with a good mixture of pictures of clinical
disease and histology photomicrographs. These chapters
will not be the first that dermatologists will reach for
when making a diagnosis; however, they provide a useful
reference containing the most up-to-date information
regarding how diseases develop.
The integument chapter (by Ann M. Hargis and Sherry
Myers) starts with a general overview of the structure
and function of the skin. It then has a discussion of how
each layer of the skin responds to injury with some speci-
fic disease examples. Next is included a section of some
general disease mechanisms that cause skin disease.
This is followed by some excellent illustrations of primary
and secondary skin lesions and a brief discussion on the
techniques involved in taking skin biopsies. This is then
followed by descriptions of diseases, with the diseases
organized by the disease agent: congenital and hereditary
diseases, microbiological diseases, immunological dis-
eases, etc. Although there are some nicely illustrated
examples of skin tumours, it is probable that there is
insufficient detail to allow dermatologists to use this
chapter for the diagnosis or treatment of skin tumours.
The chapter has an excellent and extensive review of
laminitis which is new in this edition.
A further change within the integument chapter from
the previous edition is the organization of some diseases
by species. This has been done so that if a disease only
occurs in one species, it is only discussed in the section
for this species. Although the rationale for this change is
understandable and the integument chapter now con-
forms to the rest of the book, it has resulted in an
increase in cross-referencing to guide the reader whether
to find information about a disease in the more general
section or in the species-specific sections. The increased
cross-referencing is sometimes frustrating, yet the
book’s index is excellent meaning that the information is
easily available to the reader. Other changes from the
258
DOI: 10.1111/vde.
previous edition include the addition of small numbers of
figures and an update of the text to include the latest
research.
The chapter on diseases of the ear (by Bradley L. Njaa)
follows the same basic organization and provides an
excellent resource for the pathogenesis of diseases of
the ear. This chapter not only describes the more com-
mon ear problems that clinicians may encounter, but also
has good descriptions of some of the rarer ear diseases.
The illustrations in this chapter both of the structure of
the ear and the diseases of the ear are exceptional, and
really help the reader to get a good understanding of the
basis of diseases of the ear.
The second reason that dermatologists will find this
book useful is the review of general pathology which
comprises the first 320 pages of the book. In this section
readers will find beautifully illustrated detailed descrip-
tions of how diseases develop. These include detailed
explanations of how immune-mediated diseases develop,
how neoplasia develops and how inflammation protects
the body. This book is aimed primarily at veterinary stu-
dents and although the information is detailed, it is nicely
summarized and written in language that is easily accessi-
ble. This book therefore provides an excellent reference
containing the results of the latest research regarding the
processes by which diseases develop.
As with the previous volume, the 6th edition has an
online component that is accessible using an unique
code that comes with the book. Online, readers will
find information that is not included in the print addi-
tion, mostly about rare diseases. The online version of
the book also contains some additional tables. The fig-
ures are accessible online which allows them to be
viewed larger than in the print edition. A small frustra-
tion with the online book was that some of the hyper-
links in the integument section do not seem to be
working correctly (I accessed the book in January
2017). For example clicking on ‘Acne’ in the feline dis-
ease most often took me to a description of cutaneous
mycosis. I also note that the excellent pictures of skin
tumours are contained within the disorders of pigmen-
tation section in the online book. I imagine that these
small problems will soon be resolved and overall navi-
gation around the online version of the book is easy.
Overall, this book is an excellent resource for anybody
with an interest in pathology. While this book is not aimed
specifically at veterinary dermatologists, the descriptions
of the disease mechanisms will make this book a valuable
resource for veterinary dermatologists.
John S Munday
Pathobiology, Institute of Veterinary, Animal and
Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Tennent Drive,
Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
© 2017 ESVD and ACVD, Veterinary Dermatology, 28, 258.