British Journal of Radiology (2003) 76, 666
© 2003 British Institute of Radiology
doi:
Perinatal imaging. From ultrasound to MR imaging. Ed. by FE Avni, pp. 301, 2002 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York), £90.50 ISBN 3-540-67327-X
D Pilling
This book, which is part of the Medical Radiology Diagnostic Imaging Series from the Publishers Springer, covers a fast developing area not well covered in other texts. It is written primarily by a group of paediatric radiologists led by Dr Avni but drawing on expertise from Europe and North America. The early chapters deal with what many would regard as obstetric issues including routine ultrasound, fetal growth and the placenta. There are then chapters dealing with all the body systems with the final chapters dealing with the particular problems of twin pregnancies, perinatal infection, chromosome abnormalities, fetal tumours and fetal hydrops.
The early chapters very much set the scene enabling those with little obstetric ultrasound experience to understand the techniques and limitations. The chapters devoted to systematic review of abnormalities deal with normal technique and anatomy and integrate where appropriate fetal MRI with ultrasound showing the values and drawbacks of this relatively new technique.
As you would expect from a book by such distinguished authors the text is comprehensive and the images are of a high quality. Of necessity however some of the images of rarer conditions are slightly older than images of more common conditions. The references are both comprehensive and up to date. This reviewer found the bullet point lists of particular value when using the book for quick reference.
This text should be available as a reference in all departments undertaking fetal medicine and those imaging neonates as it helps substantially to bridge the gap between fetal abnormality texts and those devoted to paediatric radiology.
