Authors: Victor Dubowitz, Caroline A. Sewry, and Anders Oldfors
Publisher: Elsevier Saunders – 592 pages

Book Review by: Nano Khilnani
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This book contains extensive information on a large range of muscle diseases and disorders in children and adults. It is a valuable resource for neurologists, pathologists and other specialists that study and treat such ailments. It contains more than 600 high-resolution images obtained from biopsy specimens spread through 23 chapters, and provides insights from specialists about causes, conditions and clinical treatments.
Besides the biopsy images, the book contains charts, photos and tables with data to enable you to better understand the topics covered in the book. Extensive lists of References are provided to you at the end of each chapter for further study and exploration.
This work by recognized leaders in muscle biopsy analysis gives you the guidance necessary to effectively interpret specimens and take correct courses of action. It offers an integrated approach to diagnosis and assessment of muscle biopsies that includes clinical, genetic, biochemical, and pathological features. It offers you the comprehensive, up-to-date coverage you need to evaluate muscle disorders with confidence.
This book is organized in two Sections, A and B, entitled:
• Section a: the Biopsy: Normal and Diseased Muscle, with chapters one through seven: the procedure of muscle biopsy; histological and histo-chemical stains and reactions; normal muscle; histological and histo-chemical changes; immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting; and how to read a biopsy.
• Section B: Pathological Muscle: Individual Diseases, with chapters eight through 23. Chapters eight through 14 are on muscle disorders allied to muscular dystrophy; chapters 15 through 19 deal with myopathies and related disorders; chapter 20 is on channel disorders; chapter 21 is on myasthenic syndromes; chapter 22 is on inflammatory myopathies; and chapter 23 is on toxic and drug-induced myopathies.
Among other benefits it provides, this book helps you to:
• Bridge the gap between clinical syndromes/disorders and their underlying pathologies with the guidance of muscle disease expert, Dr. Victor Dubowitz, who skillfully guides you through the complexities of pathologic diagnoses and their implications for clinical treatment.
• Understand and apply expert techniques for obtaining a muscle biopsy, and familiarize yourself with the histochemical, histological, electron microscopical, and molecular appearance of normal muscle and the pathology of individual muscle disease.
• Apply all of the latest diagnostic techniques for neurodegenerative and genetic diseases with a brand-new chapter on myopathies associated with systemic disorders and aging, and use advanced techniques such as immuno-histochemistry and immuno-blotting to produce the most accurate diagnoses possible for a full range of muscle disorders.
• Stay current in practice with state-of-the-art coverage of genetic markers for individual conditions and antibodies used in immunocytochemical diagnosis.
• Understand the genetics of muscular dystrophies with clarity through the use of simple diagrams and tables, and compare your specimens to a wealth of superb color images capturing the full spectrum of muscle biopsy findings.
• Take advantage of international insights and fresh perspectives in muscle diseases and disorders from new author Dr. Anders Oldfors, from the Department of Pathology, University of Goteborg, Sweden.
This book’s comprehensive coverage of the various muscle diseases and disorders and its intensive focus on each one are its two outstanding values for students and practitioners. The authors – named below – are to be applauded for this very valuable work.

Victor Dubowitz, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRCPCH is Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Dubowitz Neuromuscular Center in the Institute of Child Health in London, UK.

Caroline A. Sewry, BSc, PhD, FRCPath is Professor of Muscle Pathology at Dubowitz Neuromuscular Center in the Institute of Child Health and Great Osmond Street Hospital for Children in London, UK. She is also affiliated with Wolfson Centre for Inherited Neuromuscular Disorders and the Department of Musculoskeletal Pathology at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopedic Hospital in Oswestry, UK.

Anders Oldfors, MD, PhD is Professor of Pathology in the Department of Pathology at Institute of Biomedicine in Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden.