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“Tumors of the Peripheral Nervous System’ is the 19th Fascicle in the 4th series of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) Atlases of Tumor Pathology.

The book is divided into a total of 15 chapters. The first chapter is an overview of peripheral nerve tumours, including a historical background, a brief account of early investigators (such as Theodor Schwann, Rudolf Virchow and Santiago Ramon y Cajal), and a section describing specimen presentation, handling and assessment. The second provides an overview of the development, gross anatomy, Small molecule library supplier histology and ultrastructure of the peripheral nervous system. Chapters 3 through 6 (a total of almost 100 pages) cover a variety of non-neoplastic lesions which would be included in the differential diagnosis of peripheral nervous system tumours. These are subdivided into selleck reactive lesions; inflammatory and infectious lesions; hyperplastic lesions; and lipomatosis and neuromuscular choristoma of nerve. The remainder of the book is broken down into chapters dedicated to neoplastic entities including schwannoma, neurofibroma, perineurial cell tumours, miscellaneous benign neurogenic tumours, benign and malignant non-neurogenic tumours, malignant tumours of the peripheral nerves, tumours of the neural transmitting mesenchymal cell component of the peripheral nervous system, and secondary neoplasms. The final chapter is dedicated to neurofibromatosis

(types 1 and 2) and schwannomatosis. Each diagnostic entity is broken down into various subsections (the number of which vary depending on the type of lesion), but which typically include a definition, general features, clinical features, gross findings, microscopic findings, immunohistochemical findings, ultrastructural findings, differential diagnosis, and treatment and prognosis. Each chapter ends with an extensive selection of references for readers wishing to refer to the original papers. Within the chapter dedicated to neurofibroma additional subsections include ‘diagnostically confusing PtdIns(3,4)P2 microscopic features’ (including a review of features such as hypercellularity with and without epithelioid

cell change, densely aggregated small nuclei, melanin containing cells, and a variety of other histological appearances), ‘histological atypia and malignant change’ and ‘tumors of proposed neurofibromatous nature but unconfirmed’. As with all AFIP fascicles the book is lavishly illustrated throughout with well-annotated clinical pictures, radiology, macroscopic, microscopic and ultrastructural findings. The great strength of this book is its practical approach to diagnosis. This is the sort of book pathologists will keep by their microscope to refer to when reporting day-to-day work, as well as more challenging cases. The histological features are clearly illustrated and the differential diagnoses are particularly useful, providing a concise yet clear approach to dealing with problematic cases.