Foreword

I am pleased to present Histopathological Diagnosis of Leprosy, a book that focuses on medical pathology. It is a unique and special book that transcends the field and will certainly fill an important knowledge gap concerning the pathology of leprosy. This compendium of unique utility is written by Cleverson Teixeira Soares, a pathologist with extensive experience in subjects related to leprosy, who gained his educational expertise from the Hansenology School at the Lauro Souza Lima Institute (ILSL), Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil; a prestigious and prolific Brazilian Institute and the birthplace of brilliant hansenologists and pathologists, such as Professor Raul Negrão Fleury ( in memoriam ). This work continues his valuable legacy, as is much desired by surgical pathologists, derm at opathologists, medical students, and several professionals who clinically manage leprosy.

This book combines the author's extensive experience of the pathology of leprosy with an exhaustive effort to explain all the complex histopathological presentations of leprosy in a direct and simple manner. The book consists of eight chapters, with 214 figures in the form of panels containing 1,069 clinical and histopathological photographs. Additionally, it has an excellent microscopic record correlated with clinical and pathological findings and presented with all possible differential diagnoses for each leprosy type and its reaction phenomena; thereby, expanding the scope and utility of this subject.

I am convinced that this book will greatly help professionals who manage leprosy, a complex and clinically challenging disease.

Further, I am grateful on behalf of several individuals, especially pathologists and patients, who may benefit from the important knowledge mentioned and illustrated in this book.