Customer Reviews

Imaging of the Chest, 2-Volume Set: Expert Radiology Series, 1e

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This two-volume, multi-authored work provides a brief yet comprehensive account of thoracic imaging. The first author (NLM) is regarded by many as one of the most influential people in the radiology field. Most of the contributors are well-known experts in their fields, and, despite the number and varied geographical origin of them, the text is well-written, consistently structured, and incorporates relevant clinical and pathological data.
Subjects are presented in a coherent manner, and the book includes cutting-edge technology and addresses hot topics in pulmonary imaging (with one chapter, superbly written, devoted to lung cancer screening). The images usually are of high-quality and representative, and the references are abundant, pertinent and updated (there's also a "Suggested Readings" section, containing key review articles). The "Key Points" and "What the Referring Physician Needs to Know" bulleted boxes are especially convenient for quick review of essential information.
There are, of course, unavoidable minor flaws, such as the explanation on Hounsfield units (imprecise, as usual in clinically-oriented radiology textbooks), and the schematic drawing of pulmonary segmentation on page 15 (on 1-17B, right and left lungs are switched in position and in segmentation), among others. The suggestion to employ gadolinium-based contrast media in pulmonary CTA for PE in patients with relative or absolute contraindications to iodinated CM is particularly disturbing, since the chapter authors (MRJ, JR) don't go further on the nature of contraindications to ICM that are amenable to this exchange (allergoid, which are, or chemotoxic/osmotoxic, which aren't, since Gd-CM have a higher osmotic load than ICM on an attenuation-equivalent basis and are known to engender NSF), and the only reference they provide - not one of their articles on the subject - primarily concerns another matter.
I also noticed the lack of some topics, previously published by the authors, like pulmonary parenchymal disease related to ankylosing spondylitis, and diffuse pulmonary ossification (dendriform ossification, not included in the index, is addressed in the IPF chapter), but these are rare entities, anyway. I wish they had mentioned the expected upcoming modifications on (1) the TNM staging system for lung cancer and (2) the ATS/ERS IIP consensus, but I acknowledge it is only my eagerness.
Overall, I think the book fulfills the goal of providing a "state-of-the-art overview of chest imaging", as the main authors assert in the preface, being an invaluable, concise reference for chest physicians, radiology residents, general radiologists, and thoracic radiologists as well. In my opinion, it surpasses other similar books on the subject, is reasonably priced, and should be on the libraries of every imaging practice.