Pathology of the Connective Tissue Disease

Gardner's remarkable, scholarly, and informative book on connective tissue disease should prove indispensable to rheumatologists and many other immunologically competent investigators. It summarizes compactly many varied studies conducted in recent years to expand our knowledge of this large group of complex and often mysterious diseases. The subject matter is systematically arranged for easy reference, and key articles in the opulent bibliography are readily identified. Chair-ridden arthritics can take comfort in the extraordinary effort that has been made to assist them even though, as yet, their stiffened joints may remain as inflexible as ever.

The author's decision to classify these diseases as connective tissue rather than purely collagenous seems sensible. The collagen content of an LE cell must be negligible, and the antinuclear antibodies that have been identified in some of these conditions must exert little injurious effect on noncellular structures. The involvement of liver tissue in lupoid hepatitis, of the