Acknowledgments

First and foremost, we are indebted to our patients and their families. In spite of their sufferings, they gave us permission to take their photographs without any reservations. They are the unsung heroes of this book. We salute them for giving us the privilege of taking care of them and for their kindness in allowing us to learn from them and teach others. We trust that with this Atlas we are in some way repaying the great debt we owe to our patients.

Next, we express our deepest gratitude to all the contributing authors and photography and radiography contributors for making this Atlas an enormous encyclopedia of pathology. Their untiring efforts and dedication to this Atlas and its previous editions (for many) are responsible for this Atlas. We have learned so much from all of you during this collaboration—thank you! In addition, we are grateful to all the fellows, residents, and medical students who rotate through emergency and radiology departments, and to our colleagues and nursing staff of the emergency and radiology departments. They have constantly stimulated us by challenging us. Learning from each other as we work together has been a privilege and very rewarding. We thank you all.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to Amanda Fielding and Kay Conerly (Senior Editors) and Christie Naglieri (Senior Project Development Editor) for their countless hours in helping us in the creation of this revised edition of the Atlas. Their unflinching encouragement and inspiring phone calls were a big motivation (at first dreaded, and then understood as a shared commitment to producing the best revision possible). Without their help, this Atlas would not have come to fruition. We also extend our sincere appreciation to Leah Carton (Editorial Assistant), Sheryl Krato (Permissions Coordinator), Catherine Saggese (Senior Production Supervisor), and Jeffrey Herzich (Director of Production) for shepherding the manuscript through the production process.

I extend my gratitude also to Brian Belval (Ex-Executive Editor) for his perseverance in convincing me to continue serving as an editor-in-chief for this edition and mentoring contributors for the challenging endeavor of serving as future editors for this Atlas, so that even after my retirement, this legacy continues!

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to Revathi Viswanathan (Senior Project Manager; Cenveo Publisher Services) and her entire team for doing an extraordinary job. All our editorial suggestions in the page proofs were welcomed with one expression “Sure thing!” We could feel Revathi’s willingness “to walk an extra mile,” handling a complex manuscript incorporating more than 2000 figures and turning it into an elegant book. Revathi, we salute you and your entire team!

Last but not the least, we thank the thousands of readers who have found the previous editions of the Atlas a very valuable resource, for their suggestions and praise inspiring us to take on the challenge of a third edition. The Spanish translation of the second edition also became a driving force for us. We hope that you will find this edition equally valuable.