Evidence Based Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Focusing on practical, patient related issues, this volume provides the basic concepts of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) as they relate to Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and presents various practical applications. It includes EBM concepts for use in the identification of cost-effective panels of immunostains and other laboratory tests and for improvement of diagnostic accuracy based on the identification of selected diagnostic features for particular differential diagnosis. EBM concepts are also put forth for use in Meta-analysis to integrate the results of conflicting literature reports and use of novel analytical tools such as Bayesian belief networks, neural networks, multivariate statistics and decision tree analysis for the development of new diagnostic and prognostic models for the evaluation of patients. This volume will be of great value to pathologists who will benefit from the concepts being promoted by EBM, such as levels of evidence, use of Bayesian statistics to develop diagnostic and other rules and stronger reliance on "hard data" to support therapeutic and diagnostic modalities.

• Bayesian statistics
• Immunostains
• Laboratory tests
• Meta-analysis
• Neural networks

From the reviews:

“This is the first edition of a book on the modern topic of ‘Evidence Based Pathology and Laboratory Medicine’. … it seems to be targeting US clinical pathology residents or graduates with experience and interest in both fields. … the book gives a well-described view of the definition, application and predicted future of this rather young field in laboratory medicine.” (Mehdi Mirzazadeh, Annals of Clinical Biochemistry, Vol. 49 (5), September, 2012)

“The purpose is to introduce evidence-based medicine principles and their application to the practice of pathology. … the book would be useful for medical students or residents early in their pathology residency training. It also would be useful to practicing pathologists who are interested in evidence-based medicine and its application to everyday pathology practice. … This is a provocative book useful for readers relatively unfamiliar with evidence-based medicine and interested in its application to anatomic pathology practice.” (Valerie L. Ng, Doody's Book Reviews, September, 2011)

“The book, both coauthored in part and edited fully by two eminent professors of Pathology in the United States, comprises 361 pages, organized into 2 principal sections and divided evenly into 20 multiauthored, well-written and well-structured chapters. … specialists engaged in clinical pathology and laboratory medicine will find this monograph an excellent source of information and worthy of review … . a valuable and highly readable resource for those practitioners who recognize the inevitability of new and stimulating challenges in clinical pathology and laboratory medicine.” (Claas T. Buschmann, Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology, September, 2011)

• Dept. Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA

  Alberto M. Marchevsky

• Medical Center, Dept. Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA

  Mark Wick

Policies and ethics