Differential Diagnosis in Dermatopathology

Abstract

The newest publication by Dr Ackerman has many pluses and a few significant negatives. The biggest plus is the quality of printing, which provides excellent color rendition of representative microscopic sections. Such quality costs, as evidenced by the purchase price ($86) of this somewhat small text. Selection of material varies in its usefulness. Among the most useful topics covered are comparisons of the psoriasiform dermatoses and of microscopic aspects of the various alopecias (both scarring and nonscarring). The section on tumors (malignant and benign) is somewhat patchy and often reflects Ackerman's bias, which differs from other authors of dermatopathology texts. Some entries appear of dubious value because of the minimal likelihood of difficulty in clinical differentiation, eg, porokeratosis<i>v</i>eccrine poroma, arthropod bites<i>v</i>chronic urticaria, irritant<i>v</i>allergic contact dermatitis, and in most instances comparisons of erythema nodosum and nodular vasculitis. In many of these cases, biopsies are rare