Pediatric hematopathology is a special and highly challenging field. Despite its importance, however, and despite the sea of publications that exist in the field of hematopathology, few texts focus on the diagnosis of benign and malignant hematologic disorders found in children. As a result, even though the uniqueness of developmental factors and pathology in children is well recognized and appreciated, the specifics are not widely known or understood, which poses great difficulties for the diagnosis of hematologic diseases in children.

Diagnostic Pediatric Hematopathology presents an accurate and up-to-date examination of such diseases in children – both non-neoplastic and neoplastic. One goal is to provide knowledge about how the hematopoietic and lymphoid systems develop and how this development affects what can be considered normal and abnormal findings in children at various ages. A second key goal is to focus on the morphologic, immunophenotypic, cytogenetic, and molecular genetic characteristics of most pediatric-specific hematologic diseases so as to provide a resource that can be helpful in reaching a proper diagnosis when evaluating pediatric peripheral blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. The text addresses these goals through a team of experienced pediatric hematopathologists and clinical scientists drawn from major academic children's hospitals in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and this text is a result of our collaborative efforts.