Abstract
The fourth edition of Diagnostic Ultrasound is a two volume, encyclopaedic and authoritative text covering the full range of current ultrasound applications except for cardiology. The first volume encompasses the mainstays of a general radiology ultrasound department's workload including extensive chapters on the adult appearances of hepatic, biliary, renal and gynaecological ultrasound, as well as excellent chapters on all the small parts and vascular topics. There are also extensive chapters on interventional, contrast and organ transplants, which are very welcome. The content is generally deftly tailored to satisfy the experienced users’ need for insight into less commonly seen appearances, while still meeting many of the needs of newcomers to a topic.
The contributors have also done well in covering some of the more challenging topics such as groin and abdominal wall, with plenty of visual aids and good use of online video resources to help illustrate this potentially difficult area. There are good chapters on shoulder and basic musculoskeletal scanning but, as with other specialist topics, those who scan regularly in these fields will still need the greater depth afforded by dedicated reference books.
A surprising absence is the loss of the dedicated chapter on thorax from the third edition, with examination of the pleura absent from the general first volume, and only touched on later in the paediatrics section. The indexing also could be more extensive and robust; the beauty of a text such as this is that you can be confident of finding the information you need, so it is frustrating not to go straight to it.
Obstetrics and paediatrics are dealt with in the separate second volume, which in many of our divided departments is fortuitous. These are both vast topics, but covered to the same high standard as the first volume. The topics are meticulously laid out with good use of complementary imaging, and some excellent video clips illustrating both normal and pathological appearances.
With the books’ massive list of high profile contributors, the reader is treated to real expertise in every field covered, and the editors have allowed the individual authors’ characters to come through, while giving the text a comfortable, and largely homogenous, readable style. The majority of contributors are from the USA and Canada and this does influence the content, though the differences in practice in Europe are well discussed. There are also frank explanations as to the impact of commercial pressures in the USA on choice of management, which is helpful for the non-American reader.
Throughout, the balance between description of the underlying medical conditions and the practical ultrasound interpretation is well judged, and as with the previous edition, the emphasis on the spectrum of both normal and abnormal appearances, rather than the typical appearances, is very helpful. It is refreshing to see plentiful up-to-date images in almost all sections and in many of the chapters there are also some excellent video clips available on line.
This is an excellent reference that, despite its size, sits more often on my desk than in the book case, and I would recommend it to any ultrasound department. It comprehensively covers the bread-and-butter topics of general and obstetric ultrasound and would be a sound purchase for any radiologist or sonographer working in isolation.