A Guide to Dermatohistopathology

Abstract

The second edition has been expanded and updated. The authors have based the Guide on their own extensive personal experiences and interpretations and not on an exhaustive literature review. The book is organized by histopathological similarities rather than by clinical groupings. The first section covers normal anatomy of the skin, tissue techniques from the proper method of performing a skin biopsy through the preparation and staining of the resulting slide, and various pitfalls and how to avoid them. The next sections discuss histopathology under rather broad groupings, ie, eczematous tissue reactions, psoriasiform tissue reactions, and granulomatous reactions. These sections often include discussions of underlying biological changes that produce the morphologic features observed by the pathologist. A final section covers lesions of mucous membranes, hair, and nails. The discussions of basic reaction patterns and biological changes form the strongest portions of this book. Individual histopathologic descriptions often are too brief to