Acta Radiologica 43 (2002) 345 Copyright C Acta Radiologica 2002Printed in Denmark ¡ All rights reserved

A C T A R A D I O L O G I C A0284-1851

Book Reviews

Diagnostic Imaging (part of Medical Radiology). Edited by A.L. Baert et al. Springer-Verlag 2001. CT of the Peritoneum byA. Rossi and G. Rossi. ISBN 3-540-41400. Price hardcover: s209.

This book covers in 400 pages all thinkable aspects of the per-itoneum and peritoneal cavity. There are 13 chapters, whereofthe first 4 in great detail describe the normal anatomy, physi-ology and patho-physiology of the peritoneum as well as CTanatomy and CT techniques available. The depth of the ana-tomical knowledge that is mediated to the reader clearly dem-onstrates the authors’ determination to emphasize that the di-agnostic work of the radiologist must rest on solid anatomicalknowledge.

Radiologic Diagnosis of Chest Disease, 2nd edn. Edited by M.Sperber. Springer-Verlag 2001. ISBN 1-85233-298-0. Pricehardcover: DEM 419.

This is an updated edition of Radiologic Diagnosis of ChestDisease. The book is divided into three parts: normal anatomy,imaging techniques and clinical and radiological details.

The majority of chapters are disease-oriented, covering suchareas as pneumonias, chronic obstructive lung disease, sarcoid-osis and pulmonary oedema. Some chapters are morpholog-ically oriented, covering the diaphragm and benign and malig-nant mediastinal lesions. Others deal with specific radiographicsigns such as radiology of diffuse lung disease and cystic andcavity lung disorders. There is one chapter entitled Rare tumoursof the lung and another titled Malignant pulmonary disordersother than bronchogenic carcinoma. This of course means thatrepetition of facts is unavoidable and occurs on numerous oc-casions.

There is an impressive list of co-authors; 78 in all. This isreflected in the text: sometimes the language is not proper Eng-lish and, as mentioned above, one author does not seem toknow what the others are writing.

The Encyclopaedia of Medical Imaging. V. Chest and Cardio-vascular Imaging. Edited by H. Pettersson et al. The NICERInstitute, Oslo 2000. ISBN 82-91942-06-4.

This volume is numbered 5 in a series of 8, including an indexvolume. It is subdivided into two parts: Chest imaging, editedby P. G together with 10 assistant editors, and Cardio-vascular Imaging, edited by C B. H. This encyclo-paedia is intended as a rapid and comprehensive first-time refer-ence source with titles organized alphabetically and with A–Z

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The next 9 chapters discuss fluid collections, acute andchronic inflammatory diseases, trauma, other non-neoplasticpathologies and primary and secondary tumor spread. The textis exceedingly well written and the book as a whole is well or-ganized and easy to read. There is a large number of images ofexcellent quality. The approach of this book is helpful to bothresidents and more experienced radiologists as well as to sur-geons and oncologists who wish to expand their knowledge ofdiagnostic radiology.

This book is both basic and clinical in scope and is highlyrecommended as an important reference in everyday radiologi-cal practice.

Hans Stridbeck

There is also an impressive list of illustrations; a total of 427figures. Most of them are well chosen and appropriate. How-ever, some of them are not, and some appear to be quite old.CT images especially tend to age quite quickly. There is alsoone figure that definitely appears in the wrong chapter (Fig.24.9 on page 395). This should not happen.

Also, legends to figures are of variable quality; most aregood, but there are chapters where the legends are of inferiorquality. For example, in chapter 33 the specific diagnoses ofmany of the illustrations are not given in the legends. These aresome of my major concerns. A more aggressive editing wouldno doubt easily have corrected these flaws.

However, it must be stressed that the majority of chaptersare good or excellent and that includes both the text itself andthe illustrations. This is a book with very high ambitions: tocover the field of radiologic diagnosis of chest disease. The sumof the achievements of all contributors is impressive. This bookcan be recommended for radiologists in training and for generalradiologists.

Göran Wegenius

sequence in each volume. It is aimed at residents and radiogra-phers, but also at radiologists in practice as well as physiciansin allied clinical fields.

I find this encyclopaedia easy to use. The number of entrywords seems appropriate and there is a wealth of well repro-duced illustrations. Also, the text mass for each entry wordªacritical issue in an encyclopaediaª seems appropriate. An en-cyclopaedia for this purpose is a new concept. It is planned tobe published not only in book but also in CD-ROM format.

Göran Wegenius