Musculoskeletal Imaging: A Concise Multimodality Approach.

Klaus Bohndorf, Herwig Imhof, and Thomas Lee Pope, Jr, New York, NY: Thieme, 2001. 377 pages.

A fellow in my training program recently remarked that, after looking up the many findings of hyperparathyroidism seen radiologically in an authoritative text, he “knew what to look for but knew not what it would look like.” As I perceive it, the core aim of Musculoskeletal Imaging: A Concise Multimodality Approach is to present to the reader the most concise imagery of how various radiologic findings appear in many modalities. The generous use of sonograms, combined with MR images, CT scans, and conventional radiographs, attests to this multimodality approach. This book is factually concise, conveying all that is deemed relevant rather than all that is known. In this regard, the wisdom and experience of the authors have provided thoughtful, exacting editing of topics to deliver a distilled text of purely clinically relevant information. In short, there is little fluff or esoterica.

The book’s design is unique. Two opposing pages are presented throughout: the left-hand page with text and the right-hand page replete with flawless images and useful tables and diagrams. There are 1300 illustrations compressed into 377 pages. Although many authors wrote this book (18 contributors), one would not know it. Each page of each chapter is laid out identically, and the transitions between chapters are seamless. The first third of the book is devoted to traumatology, and the inclusion of numerous MR images puts a new face on conventional radiographic depictions of trauma. After trauma, bone and soft-tissue infections, tumors, hematologic disorders, ishemic disease, metabolic disease, bone growth disorders, and various dystrophic states (eg, calcification and ossifications of the soft tissues) are covered. The final fourth of the book is devoted to joint diseases.

This book is ideal for looking up topics and for obtaining just the facts. It is an ideal text to use in a teaching program and for the resident or fellow to have handy while previewing cases. Conversely, the more experienced clinician will find that the collage of CT scans, sonograms, and MR images enhances his or her understanding of the familiar mental images of the traditional x-ray viewbox combination.

A guide to important tables and diagrams is strategically placed on the opening leaflet, which includes classification schemes by eponyms (eg, LeFort, Salter-Harris) and by location (eg, dens, calcaneus). A weakness of the text may be that some items were omitted in the pursuit of succinctness. For example, the text states “TFCC lesions are generally described using the classification proposed by Palmer.” However, the Palmer classification is not provided. This may leave the reader feeling unsatisfied in some cases. Overall, the book is good and has a unique format that presents musculoskeletal diseases in such a way that the reader will understand not only what to look for, but also what it looks like.