K. Krishnan Unni and Carrie Y. Inwards. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2010. 402 pages. $199.00. ISBN: 978-0-7817-6242-7.
The sixth edition of this classic reference text presents the Mayo Clinic pathology and radiology experience with 10,165 cases of bone lesions. Compiled by the world-renowned pathology giant K. Krishnan Unni, MBBS, now an Emeritus Consultant at the Mayo Clinic, and his widely respected colleague, Carrie Inwards, MD, Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, this latest addition to the series continues in the tradition of compiling statistics and representative examples of bone tumors from the Mayo Clinic files. It is both complete and detailed. This edition contains information on cases through 2003, adding ten more years of cases to those presented in the fifth edition. As always, the illustrations are outstanding, with beautiful color pictures of both the gross tumor specimens and the numerous detailed histologic sections. Appreciated additions to the current edition include updated illustrations, additional computerized tomographic and magnetic resonance images, some additional information regarding immunohistochemical staining and cytogenetics within specific tumor chapters, and a more detailed introductory chapter in which the Mayo Clinic perspective on grading, staging, and specimen handling is discussed.
As in previous editions, both benign and malignant tumors are covered, as are neoplasms and conditions that simulate tumors. The authors present a modified Lichtenstein classification system that is based on the histologic appearance of the tumors, but the terminology is almost identical to that of the World Health Organization's classification of bone tumors, which was published in 2000 with Dr. Unni as a coauthor. Ten chapters of this text are devoted to individual or narrow categories of benign bone neoplasms, and thirteen chapters discuss individual primary malignancies of bone (inclusive of myeloma and malignant lymphoma of bone). Two broad chapters discuss a spectrum of benign and malignant tumors: one covers unusual neoplasms of bone, and the other covers simulators of neoplasms. In the latter chapter are found a number of relatively common lesions, including metastatic disease to bone, nonossifying fibromas, and various cystic lesions such as unicameral and aneurysmal bone cysts.
This edition of Dahlin's textbook adds to the rich tradition of this series, and it should find a home not only in medical school libraries but in the personal libraries of pathologists, orthopaedic surgeons, radiologists, and medical and radiation oncologists. Of note, purchase of the text allows online access to a fully searchable text and image bank.