Abstract
This volume gives a comprehensive overview of diagnostic imaging in the intensive care patient. The editor has recruited an interdisciplinary team of experts from different hospitals in Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. The book is divided into seven chapters and covers a large range of typical ICU pathologies where radiology can act as a problem solver. Many high quality radiographs and CT images are attached and over 90 tables highlight important clinical and radiological facts. Practical grading and scoring systems are added and may help the radiologist to structure the reports. Each section starts with pathogenesis and clinical aspects of the pathologic entities. Diagnostic strategies, differential diagnosis and complications are explained extensively and important clinical clues and keys are placed at the page margins. Every chapter ends with a brief and recapitulatory summary.
The first chapter gives a short but very useful overview of radiologic techniques in the ICU, radiation exposure issues, and communication between radiologist and clinicians.
The second and largest chapter deals with thoracic imaging. Positions of all kind of catheters and monitor devices are listed and covered with conventional chest X-ray images. Other issues are pulmonary edema, ARDS, pneumonia, and acute pulmonary embolism. CT features are given much importance.
Two chapters are dedicated to thoracic and abdominal surgery, including different abdominal interventions. Both normal postoperative findings and postoperative complications like bleeding, sepsis, peritonitis, abscess, and bowel obstruction are thoroughly discussed and exemplified with many useful figures. In addition, complications after specific operations are covered in a separate section. The large spectrum of different inflammatory and vascular diseases in the abdomen ranging from pancreatitis to intestinal bleeding and ischemia are presented in the chapter of acute abdomen. The two last chapters are dedicated to thoracic and abdominal imaging of the pediatric intensive care patients. Newborn pathologies like wet lung, meconium aspiration, neonatal pneumonia, and others are covered as well as the most common diseases of acute abdomen in different age groups. Minor drawbacks include the lack of biliary MRI and some unnecessary reiteration of technical issues in the first two chapters.
In summary, this volume is a very useful companion for the on-call junior and senior radiologist. The large amount of illustrative figures and tables facilitates a practical approach to diagnostic challenges of the intensive care patients. Every emergency unit should supply its on-call personnel with this amazing and state-of-the-art textbook on imaging diagnoses in critical care patients.