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Clinical Diagnostic Ultrasound (2nd edn). Ed. by G M Baxter, P L P Allan and P Morley, pp. xi+687, 1999 (Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK), £195.00 ISBN 0 632 03744

It is surprising, given the major advances in ultrasound that have occurred in the intervening period, that it has taken 13 years for this popular book to reach its second edition. The new editors and contributors have produced an excellent single volume book that acts as a useful source of reference as well as the basis for training programmes in radiology and sonography.

The text is clear and concise, with ample figures and illustrations. The colour plates are grouped together in the centre of the book, which leads to some irritating additional page turning, although the equivalent frames are shown in black and white within the appropriate part of each chapter.

The first section gives an interesting account of how ultrasound imaging has blossomed from the fringes of medical imaging to centre-stage in a little over 40 years. An estimated 250 million examinations are now performed worldwide each year.

The sections on ultrasound physics and instrumentation are generally good, but some of the detail on subjects such as mechanical probes and static B-mode scanning are now largely of historical interest only.

The sections on vascular ultrasound are excellent, with useful practical details of how the studies are performed and their relationship to other modalities.

Another new feature for this edition is over 100 pp. devoted to echocardiology, an area often ignored in other texts.

There is relatively sparse coverage of the newer developments in ultrasound, such as contrast agents, harmonic imaging and power Doppler. This presumably reflects the limited impact that these techniques have so far made in day-to-day clinical practice.

All of the major areas of general and obstetric ultrasound practice are included, with additional chapters in developing fields such as endoscopic and musculoskeletal ultrasound. In each case the coverage is authoritative but not exhaustive, with extensive referencing for those requiring further detail. This book undoubtedly fills the void that exists for an up-to-date, practical and comprehensive textbook in diagnostic ultrasound, and the editors are to be congratulated for their efforts. Hopefully, any later editions will not be so long in the making!

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