Thieme, New York, 2003, $249.
This 1,120 page, fifth edition of the classic textbook has been revamped and updated with more figures, including more cross-sectional imaging. Dr. Freyschmidt and colleagues have organized the contents according to basic diagnostic questions that are related to clinical and/or radiographic findings.
The book is very useful for the person who has a musculoskeletal finding that could be a normal variant versus one of five broad pathologic categories: anomaly (dysplasia), trauma, necrosis, inflammation or tumor. Pathology is also illustrated to contrast to the borderland findings. Overall, the reader gains important abilities to distinguish significant findings from those that are not important.
The book is divided by anatomic location, and within that location are the normal and pathological findings. All bones are covered, including the skull, facial bones, and spine. Radiographic images are of the highest quality and there are many diagrams and tables that are extremely organized and useful. It is amazing how much one can absorb from flipping through sections, looking at figures and tables.
Tables offset in blue provide differential diagnoses for key findings. The text is well written and has key words and image numbers in bold type to facilitate a search for a specific finding. One irritating feature of the book is that references are placed at the end of each chapter, without any corresponding citation in the text. In addition, many European, non-English references are included.
This work combines elements of Keats' excellent texts on normal variants and measurements with the classic skeletal radiology texts of Resnick and Greenspan. Who should buy this book? Primarily anyone in radiology, orthopedic surgeons, primary care clinicians, rheumatologists, emergency physicians, and pediatricians. This is a great reference to use when studying for boards with its many examples of images of skeletal pathology. This book should be on the shelf of any radiologist who reads musculoskeletal images.
By Dr. Lynne S. SteinbachAuntMinnie.com contributing writer
February 14, 2002
Dr. Steinbach is a professor of radiology and orthopedics at the University of California, San Francisco. She also serves as the acting chief of musculoskeletal radiology.
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