Doody's Core Titles 2024 - The Essential Collection Development Tool for Health Sciences Libraries

Reviewer:	Kyle Perry, MD (University of Michigan Medical School)

Range	Question	Score
1-10	Are the product's objectives met?	10
1-5	Does the website help achieve the purpose?	5
1-10	Rate the worthiness of those objectives.	10
1-5	Is this directed to an appropriate level?	5
1-5	Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant)	5
1-5	Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant)	5
1-5	Rate the authority of the authors.	5
1-5	Are there sufficient illustrations?	5
1-5	Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations.	5
1-5	Are there sufficient references?	5
1-5	Rate the currency of the references.	5
1-5	Rate the helpfulness of the index.	5
1-5	Rate the added value from the online version.	5
1-5	Is the online version easy to access?	5
1-5	Rate the ease of navigation/search.	5
1-5	Rate the pedagogic quality of images on the online version.	5
1-5	Rate the value of added audiovisual features online.	3
1-5	Is there sufficient use of hypertext links?	5
1-5	Are there hyperlinks from references to journal articles?	5
1-5	Is there appropriate use of features like bookmarking, printing/exporting?	5
1-10	Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field?	10
1-10	If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed?	10

Reviewer:	Kyle Perry, MD (University of Michigan Medical School)

Description
This is the seventh edition of one of the definitive references in soft tissue pathology. The previous edition was published in 2014.

Purpose
The purpose is to provide a comprehensive approach to the precise diagnosis of soft tissue tumors. In addition to histologic characteristics, the book also aims to present the appropriate use of a growing body of imaging, immunohistochemical, and molecular studies for the diagnosis of mesenchymal tumors.

Audience
This book is intended for a broad readership, including pathology residents, fellows, and surgical pathologists. Although training and attending pathologists will of course find the book to be essential, general and subspecialty pathologists in other areas will inevitably find it highly beneficial when confronted with a soft tissue neoplasm in their anatomic area of practice (e.g., spindle cell tumor associated with the GI tract). Moreover, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and orthopedic oncologists who frequently treat sarcomas will also find the reference to be immensely helpful in providing additional background/prognostic information when encountering a soft tissue neoplasm.

Features
The book begins with several chapters that discuss the general approach to the diagnosis of soft tissue tumors. This includes sections regarding grading, updated AJCC staging, imaging, and updated ancillary molecular genetics and immunohistochemical studies. Following this, the book then describes the clinical, gross, microscopic, and immunohistochemical features of each soft tissue entity, followed by a discussion of the differential diagnosis and clinical behavior. These tumors are generally organized by the tissue they emulate (i.e., smooth muscle, adipocytic, etc). The last two chapters are dedicated to tumors of uncertain type. The writing is clear with significant emphasis placed on recent advancements in the field and how they relate to daily clinical practice. This includes generous discussion of new ancillary studies as well as recently described entities that should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

Assessment
This book remains the premier reference for soft tissue pathology. It presents a comprehensive yet concise discussion of the approach to soft tissue tumor diagnosis. Moreover, the authors have done an excellent job of comprehensively and accurately reflecting recent and relevant publications without losing narrative coherence. The images are excellent. There are many new additional images provided, often reflecting recent publications regarding morphologic variations not previously addressed in the literature (such as recently described stromal variations seen in desmoid fibromatosis). Additionally, the flood of novel immunohistochemical stains and diagnostically relevant genetic mutations is comprehensively addressed in the relevant tumor descriptions as well as the chapter dedicated to molecular genetic pathology of soft tissue tumors. The book also nicely presents images and descriptions from particularly rare and novel entities. In short, this book should be considered a necessity for anyone who has even an occasional interaction with soft tissue tumors.