HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Boles, C. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Boles, C. A. Social Bookmarking                      What's this? Hotlight (NEW!) What's Hotlight?

MRI of the Musculoskeletal System, 4th ed.

Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088

By Thomas H. Berquist. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1100 pp., 2001. $179

If you would like to review books for AJR, please send a cover letter stating your interest with a current curriculum vitae to Assistant Editor for Book Reviews, AJR, 101 S. Stratford Rd., Ste. 303, Winston-Salem, NC 27104.

This fourth edition of Dr. Berquist's MRI of the Musculoskeletal System will be an excellent addition to anyone's library. There are 14 contributing authors, with a fairly uniform style throughout the text. The book is divided into 16 chapters with the first three dealing with fundamental concepts and principles of MR imaging and its role in musculoskeletal imaging. The initial chapter on principles and terminology is pleasant to read and easy to understand. Numerous practical points are illustrated through images using various MR imaging parameters that make the concepts more relevant to the nonphysicist.

Chapters 4-11 are anatomically divided. The chapter on the knee is one of the best. Numerous anatomic illustrations and tables throughout these chapters are a wonderful bonus. Separate illustrations of known bursae around the knee and important ligaments around various joints are particularly useful. Representative MR images show some normal anatomy. Illustrations of these images have been placed to better depict neurovascular structures. These are apparently black-and-white reproductions of watercolor paintings that probably would have been more effective in color. As with all nonatlas textbooks, not every structure is labeled.

Although neoplasms are covered in Chapter 12, most of the anatomic regions discuss tumors common to each location. The spine chapter has the "nonbone" spine as its major focus, with several pages discussing tumors of the cord and surrounding structures, congenital cord, and vascular abnormalities. This is somewhat unexpected for a musculoskeletal text. Unfortunately, the treatment of disk disease is somewhat abbreviated, and the only mention of compression fractures is found in the short section on MR imaging postvertebroplasty. Compression fractures are briefly discussed in the chapter on marrow diseases.

Chapter 13 is devoted to infection, and chapter 8, "Foot, Ankle, and Calf," discusses diabetic foot imaging. In Chapter 14, diffuse marrow diseases are discussed and typical hematopoetic marrow distribution is illustrated. Chapter 15, "Miscellaneous Conditions," includes myopathies, trauma, arthropathies, pediatric disorders, and Paget's disease. The short pediatric section is a review of growth plate abnormalities with specific conditions covered in the appropriate anatomic chapter. Chapter 16 presents an overview of spectroscopy.

References are up-to-date and, for the most part, opinions clearly stated as such. Overall, I found MRI of the Musculoskeletal System to be a useful text with excellent illustrations and case presentations. Arrows are used liberally on the illustrations, and the findings are, in general, well-depicted. The intermittent use of radiographs and CT images is appropriate and helpful. There are several competing textbooks, including Stoller's Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine (Lippincott, 1997) and Resnick and Kang's Internal Derangements of Joints: Emphasis on MR Imaging (Saunders, 1997). I believe Dr. Berquist has produced an excellent textbook that will be most useful for general radiologists and those in training but will not sit idle on the shelf of the subspecialist. Non-radiologists will also appreciate the writing style and illustrations.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Boles, C. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Boles, C. A. Social Bookmarking                      What's this? Hotlight (NEW!) What's Hotlight?