Diagnostic Ultrasound (2 Volume Set)

Univ. of Colorado, Denver. Stateof-the-art, comprehensive clinical reference. This edition is 25% larger than the 1991 edition, with special focus on the areas of obstetrics and gynecology. More than 3,600 illustrations, with 461 in color. 100 contributors, 59 U.S. DNLM: Ultrasonography.

The future of diagnostic sonography in today's era of cost containment is unclear. As compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), sonography has the disadvantages of a limited field of view, poorer resolution, operator dependence, and interference by bone and air. In most regions of the body, sonography is considered a good screening test, but if you really need an answer you go to CT or MRI. With pressure to do as few studies as possible, why not go straight to CT or MRI? Because sonography does have advantages: flexibility, real-time monitoring, low cost, no ionizing radiation, and relatively inexpensive upgrades. I believe sonography has a bright future in the managed-care era, and this book illustrates many new applications for it.

The first edition of Diagnostic Ultrasound was extremely well received and became a standard, authoritative reference book. Given the advances in the field over the past seven years, including color and power Doppler and new and improved transducer technology, a revised, updated second edition is welcome. The editors have assembled an outstanding group of approximately 100 expert contributors. The layout of this book is beautiful. Colored boxes highlight important lists and tables throughout the text. The illustrations are large and well annotated and show exactly what they are intended to show. Correlative imaging methods, drawings, and diagrams are used appropriately. The topics covered in the two volumes cover the entire field of diagnostic ultrasound, including physics and bioeffects; contrast agents; abdominal, pelvic, and thoracic sonography; interventional sonography; musculoskeletal sonography; intraoperative and laparoscopic sonography; small-parts imaging; vascular sonography; obstetric and fetal sonography; and pediatric sonography. References are copious, cited throughout the text and listed at the ends of the chapters.

Radiology residents will want to purchase this book as their definitive reference work on sonography. The general radiologist who does some sonography should own it for reference during daily practice. Experienced ultrasound practitioners will be drawn to the relatively new material presented in the chapters on contrast agents, the gastrointestinal tract, the abdominal wall, the diaphragm and peritoneum, the thorax, intraoperative sonography, and the rotator cuff and tendons. Any brave souls who wish to plunge into ultrasound-guided interventional procedures will find expert guidance in several chapters. The second volume consists of sections on obstetric and fetal sonography and pediatric sonography. Each of these could be published separately as a monograph. This book is a must acquisition for departmental libraries. Specialists in obstetrics and gynecology and in vascular surgery will probably opt to purchase monographs devoted to their specialties.

I cannot praise the editors, authors, and publisher of this book enough. One rarely finds a textbook that is encyclopedic, easy to read, beautifully illustrated, and thoughtfully laid out. Most book reviews are supposed to present something in the way of shortcomings. I suppose I could find a few typographical errors here or there, or quibble about some statement somewhere. However, I really cannot find anything wrong that is worth mentioning.

Reviewed by Arnold C. Friedman, M.D.
Copyright © 1998 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.