Edited by David A. Nicholson and Peter A. Driscoll. 111 pp. Illust. BMJ Publishing Group, London. 1995. Distributed in Canada by the Canadian Medical Association, Ottawa. $43.20 ($36 CMA members). Prices include shipping and handling. ISBN 0-7279-0832-4

• Overall rating: Fair
• Strengths: A very basic review of radiology
• Weaknesses: Poor quality of many radiographs; many lesions difficult to identify and not marked with arrows; spelling errors; at least one mislabelled diagram
• Audience: Recent medical graduates, and perhaps nurses, working in an emergency department

The two editors have collaborated with the contributors in all of the chapters, resulting in a refreshingly uniform style. The basic and simple text should be useful to the target audience. However, I am disappointed by the poor quality of many of the illustrations; in many instances the lesions are difficult to see. For example, in Fig. 1 (page 41) the left lesser trochanter is said to have been destroyed by a metastatic tumour, yet it is difficult to see, and in fact both trochanters appear similar on the radiograph. The line diagram does not really help. Much more use of arrows pointing to the lesions described is imperative.

There is also evidence of sloppy proofreading. I found the following spelling errors: Fig. 8 (pg. 8) "glaeazzi fracture dislocation"; Fig. 12 (pg. 14) "verticle" (for vertical); and Fig. 2 (pg. 73) "sheno-occipital synchrondrosis." In Fig. 2 (pg. 48), the azygous lobe is incorrectly labelled.

An irritating aspect of the book is that the reader is repeatedly referred to other parts of the book, but no page numbers are given (e.g., "Examination of the lumbar spine will be covered in the article on the lumbar spine." Why not add "on page 95"?).

In Fig. 10 (pg. 20) there is an illustration of a lipohemarthrosis. However, this interesting condition is not described in the text nor marked with an arrow in the illustration.

There is little on more advanced techniques such as ultrasonography, computed tomography, nuclear medicine or magnetic resonance imaging. A radiologic text published in 1995 - even such a basic one - should provide physicians with some guidance on when and how to request these examinations, especially in cases of head, facial, axial and pelvic injuries.

The book also fails to mention the "battered-baby" or "whiplash-shake" syndrome or how to diagnose it. It contains little to help the neophyte assess whether children may have a fracture.

Apart from these criticisms, the book does offer some guidance in the approach to radiologic assessment in the emergency department for recent medical graduates.

Frank I. Jackson, MB, ChB, DPH, FRCP
University of Alberta Hospitals
Edmonton, Alta.