Emergency Radiology

Media Review

CJEM 2001;2(3):216

Edited by David T. Schwartz, Earl Reisdorff. 672 pp. McGraw-Hill Inc. 2000. $224.75. ISBN 0-07-050827-5.

This is the first edition of what will become a "classic" reference text, appropriate for emergency medicine residents, practising clinicians and medical students. Most of the contributors are US emergency physicians, with a few radiologists tossed in for good measure. The result is a practical and clinically relevant textbook.

Most chapters follow a similar format; they begin with a discussion of clinical decision making and review the indications for radiographic studies. This is followed by discussions of anatomy, physiology and the injury biomechanics underlying the radiographic findings. Then there is a section on radiographic technique, followed by the core section, "Radiographic analysis." Other topics include common abnormalities, errors in interpretation, normal variants and controversies.

Each skeletal component (e.g., the spine) is covered in its own chapter, and soft tissue imaging is broken down into plain films, CT and ultrasonography. Specific chapters discuss the trauma victim, the pediatric patient and the poisoned patient. There is a section on child abuse. Emergency department ultrasound is addressed, but only in a cursory 10-page overview.

The book presents an appropriate selection of images, and its production quality is excellent. Tables reinforce the key points, and many of the images are accompanied by drawings that detail the radiographic findings.

Emergency Radiology will be a good reference for practising emergency physicians. Although this book is expensive, it will make a useful addition to any emergency department.

Claude Topping, MD
Directeur
Programme de formation complémentaire
de médecine d'urgence
Université Laval
Québec, Qué.