Ophthalmic Histopathology

This book has been written to give guidance to histopathologists who are dealing with pathological specimens submitted by ophthalmologists, whether in a general pathology laboratory or in a specialist ophthalmic pathology laboratory. The bias has been given to the diseases encountered commonly in the routine service or in the autopsy room and the intention is to show how to achieve the maximum information from each specimen. Conventional textbooks deal with diseases of the eye on an anatomical basis, but this is inappropriate for a histopathologist who is studying a globe in which the disease has varying effects on each of the individual tissue components. While unconventional, it seemed more acceptable to lay the book out under the relatively limited and broad headings which ophthalmologists use as indications for enucleation: "trauma", "tumour", "endophthalmitis", "vascular disease", etc. It also seemed logical to include a separate chapter on ocular disease as it is encountered in the autopsy room and, continuing the theme, to consider a keratoplasty specimen and the topics of orbital biopsy and conjunctival biopsy in separate chapters. In each pathological process, whenever appropriate, it was important to include the effects of modern therapeutic measures because this is one of the main features of interest for the clinician. For the beginner, an introductory chapter on the techniques and rationale of the preliminary systematic macroscopic examination of a globe has been included with an account of the supplementary techniques which are essential for an accurate diagnosis.