The spleen is an organ which has diverse functions including immunologic and hematologic. The Atlas of Spleen Pathology describes and selectively illustrates the normal and pathologic conditions that afflict the spleen. This extraordinary collection of high quality digital images will materially aid in continuing efforts to recognize, understand, and accurately interpret the gross and light microscopic findings in spleens.

The understanding of diagnostic lymph node and spleen pathology has evolved at an impressive pace since 1995, when the third series AFIP atlas was published. Progress has been fuelled, in large part, by the application of a number of technologies to the study of hematopoietic neoplasms. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification scheme for hematologic neoplasms has captured much of this progress, and is generally accepted for clinical practice. The current volume, part of the fourth series of atlases, integrates the WHO classification, including the 2016 revision, and highlights areas in which the WHO classification is likely to evolve with time. In keeping with the goals and tradition of the atlases, this volume emphasizes morphological features of hematopoietic neoplasms, and includes a discussion of differential diagnoses for each disease category. In addition, the results of immunophenotypic and molecular genetic testing for each disease are highlighted, including findings generated by using high-throughput techniques that likely will be integrated into standard diagnostics in the near future. Overall, this atlas will provide readers with the comprehensive information necessary for the pathological and clinical assessment of lymph node and splenic lesions.

One of the main reasons that this edition was undertaken is that for some years there has been no single, up-to-date book containing extensive information on benign and reactive lymphoid conditions. Although malignant processes garner the majority of attention, it is the benign processes that have an underlying complexity that is often an illustration of the delicate interplay of many components of the active immune system. In diagnosing the pathologic specimen, a basic approach is: 1. To determine if the process is benign or malignant. 2. If malignant, to characterise the origin of the malignancy. 3. To subclassify or identify the process. In some cases, the first part-the question of benign versus malignant-cannot be resolved by histomorphologic evaluation alone. The second part of the approach has become considerably easier with the advent of immunophenotypic analysis. The final issue, that of identification of the pathologic process, may be of greater or lesser importance, depending on the clinical situation. If an exact diagnosis can be made it can have several benefits. In the case of neoplastic processes, it may indicate the type of treatment and the prognosis. In benign processes, there are other important benefits as well. Although some therapies may be instituted in benign conditions, often simply naming a thing can have great benefit to the patient. It is important to realise that even in the case of a purely reactive process, finding a name, a category, a classification, can provide real peace of mind to the patient. As the American Journal of Clinical Pathology declares, "The hundreds of images are the greatest asset of this book. There are extraordinary renditions of such exquisite classic (yet rarely illustrated) entities: `sago' and `lardaceous' spleens, `lollipop' and `explosive' lymphoid follicles, multinucleated measles cells and hyperplastic mesothelial inclusions, and sundry mystifying diseases, including those known eponymously: Kawasaki, Kikuchi, and Kimura." For pathologists and hematopathologists specifically, the authors have created a book that will serve for years as a useful guide to the multifaceted world of benign and reactive lesions of the lymphoid system.