Practical Neuropathology

The understanding of the diseases affecting the nervous system tissue particularly the brain, viz. brain tumors, degenerative diseases, neuromuscular diseases, brain trauma, multiple sclerosis and stroke can be approached through neuropathological studies. Neuropathology is aided in this direction with small surgical biopsies and in some cases, whole-body autopsies. Another aspect of neuropathology is the analysis and examination of muscle and peripheral nerve biopsies. Muscle biopsies are performed to diagnose muscle diseases such as mitochondrial myopathy, polymyositis, etc. while peripheral nerve biopsies assess suspected cases of peripheral neuropathies that are secondary to amyloidosis and vasculitis. Epidermal nerve fiber density testing is a modern neuropathology test which is often seen as a minimally invasive replacement of the traditional sural nerve biopsy. This book discusses the fundamentals as well as modern approaches of neuropathology. It will also provide interesting topics for research which interested readers can take up. Coherent flow of topics, student-friendly language and extensive use of examples make this book an invaluable source of knowledge.