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Dusting off another shelf: further comments on classic gynecologic pathology books of yesteryear
1James Homer Wright Pathology Laboratories, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. RHYoung@partners.edu
Abstract:
Selected outstanding books from the older literature on gynecologic pathology are reviewed with emphasis on drawing attention to the abundant helpful information and often outstanding illustrations that are worthy of review by present-day pathologists. This represents a follow up to a previous similar essay that appeared in Volume 19:67-84, 2000. The first three books cover general gynecological pathology: Gynecological Pathology by Carl Abel; Gynecological and Obstetrical Pathology by Robert T. Frank; and Haines and Taylor's Gynaecological Pathology by Magnus Haines and Claud W. Taylor. Each of them emphasizes the time-honored problem of mimicry of malignancy by diverse benign lesions or even aspects of normal histology. Awareness of the clinical background and cooperation between the clinician and pathologist are emphasized. The other three books considered are all devoted largely or exclusively to the ovary: Ovarian Tumors by Hans Selye, Ovarian Neoplasms, Morphology, and Classification by Karel Motlik, and Special Tumors of Ovary and Testis and Related Extragonadal Lesions by Gunnar Teilum. The book of Selye has a truly remarkable encyclopedic coverage of the older literature, the references being so comprehensive that they are presented in a separate volume. A number of aspects of the histopathology of ovarian tumors that have been emphasized in recent years are noted in Selye's book. Dr. Motlik's book presents a very high quality consideration of the differential diagnosis of ovarian tumors. Teilum's book contains a masterful account of the histopathology of germ cell tumors emphasizing a neoplasm with which his name will always be associated, the yolk sac tumor (endodermal sinus tumor). Numerous beautiful and refreshingly large illustrations are provided, and Dr. Teilum's interest in comparative pathology is evident in the pages, his linking of the famous Schiller-Duval bodies with the endodermal sinuses of the rat placenta, being the most notable example.
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