Mary N. Sheppard: Practical cardiovascular pathology, Hodder Arnold, 2011, 340 pp., ISBN: 978-0340981931
Abstract
Although a major component of forensic pathology is the ability to recognize and interpret injury, and determine its role in causing death, the majority of cases investigated by forensic pathologists are sudden cardiac deaths. Every expert in this field has experienced the difficulty of interpreting macroscopic and histological findings in cases of sudden cardiac death.
Unfortunately, there are not many books and atlases about cardiovascular pathology which are suitable for forensic pathologists. Dr.
Sheppard's Practical Cardiovascular Pathology could possibly be the exception to this. The book includes numerous color photographs of the highest quality illustrating both macroscopic and histological findings which support the understanding of the reader and can be useful in daily routine forensic practice.
It straddles the fields of both clinical cardiac pathology and forensic cardiac pathology and is of value for both groups of experts. Without any reservations, this new reference in cardiac pathology will prove itself quite useful for forensic pathologists, and I would highly recommended it.