CT of the Heart: Principles and Applications by U. Joseph Schoepf, ed.
Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, 2005, $195
CT of the Heart: Principles and Applications is the latest offering in the contemporary cardiology series edited by Dr. Christopher Cannon. The strength of the book is the quality of cardiac CT/CT angiography (CTA) images. However, many readers may be scared off by the book's emphasis on technical issues versus clinical ones.
The book discusses all aspects of cardiac CT in great detail, starting with an historical look at the evolution of this modality. The second and third sections delve into the technical aspects of cardiac CT, as well as detection and quantification of coronary calcium. The differences between electron-beam CT and multi-detector CT are covered.
These chapters are full of complicated mathematical equations, statistics, and graphs that are best understood by people with a PhD in the field or others with a distinct penchant for numbers.
The remaining chapters deal with cardiac morphology, function, and coronary CTA. These are somewhat easier to digest from an MD's perspective, although the emphasis is still on technique rather than clinical applications
The images in the book are excellent, offering a broad range of cardiac pathology. MRI, conventional angiograms, and nuclear medicine studies are also included. Diagrams are used effectively.
CT of the Heart is most suitable for those who wish to understand the technical aspects of cardiac CT. Radiology residents may find it useful to review the images and captions, although it's not a "must read" for cardiac board review.
By Dr. E. John MadarangAuntMinnie.com contributing writer
July 1, 2005
Dr. Madarang is a board-certified radiologist from Aurora/St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee. He is currently a neuroradiology fellow at the medical center of the University of California, Davis in Sacramento.
The opinions expressed in this review are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of AuntMinnie.com.
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