British Journal of Radiology (2003) 76, 507
© 2003 British Institute of Radiology
doi:
Cross-sectional diagnostic imaging. By N Strickland and P Gupta, pp. 440, 2002 (Martin Dunitz Ltd, London, UK), £29.95 ISBN 1-84184-167-9-6
M Gowland
As a book intended primarily for clinicians seeking some insight into the newer imaging modalities, it is ideally suited for just that audience. It presents first a series of well chosen images of normal cross-sectional anatomy as seen with ultrasound, CT, MR and nuclear medicine (though I have never really thought of nuclear medicine as cross-sectional imaging before). This is followed by 80 case studies covering a wide range of pathology and is plentifully illustrated. The majority of images in this section are CT but where appropriate cases are very usefully illustrated with images from 2 or 3 different modalities and on occasion examples of the same pathology in other patients are also included. However, no indication of the relative appropriateness of each of the modalities shown was included. I think it would have been helpful to do this, particularly for this audience.
The image quality for a book in this price bracket for the most part is very good, but the plain films particularly the chest radiographs were disappointing.
The question and answer format makes it a very easy book to follow and the liberal inclusion of relevant clinical findings and associations makes it very attractive to its target audience.
One drawback of the book was the presence of several irritating mistakes: the wrong image included in the very first example of pathology; referring to pre-contrast images as post-contrast images and spelling mistakes on the first page. This apart, the book is ideal in price, presentation and content for clinicians about to appear for their higher examinations.
