A Text-Book of X-ray Diagnosis

Abstract

Volume IV of the fourth edition of A Text-Book of X-Ray Diagnosis represents a departure in policy for this well-known text. The Alimentary Tract has been removed from the volume on the Abdomen and now appears by itself. Unfortunately, the extraction is not complete; the liver and pancreas have been left behind, presumably to remain in the Abdomen forever. Hopefully, that section will contain some sorely needed information on special procedures. The chapters on the salivary glands, chronic duodenal ileus, the small bowel, the diaphragm, and the colon have undergone major revision or reorganization since the third edition. Other chapters remain the same or virtually unchanged. Type setting is excellent and makes for easy readability. Typographic errors are few; one, however, involves a misplaced decimal point that magnifies the error tenfold. Figures are mostly positives and generally excellent. They are occasionally misplaced, and at least one is misinterpreted. There is a curious periodic tendency to fail to refer to the figures. The index is good, but the bibliography is unbelievably bad. In accordance with British custom. references are supposed to be made by name and date, rather than by number. There is no objection to this system as long as it is followed. Unhappily, no system is followed. Many names that are given do not appear in the bibliographic list. Other names appear without dates in the text, making it impossible to identify the pertinent reference when the same name appears more than once in the bibliographic list. To further compound the problem, titles of articles are not consistently given. Finally, there is no bibliography appended to the chapter concerning the Alimentary Tract in Infants and Children. The information contained is generally superficial, with insufficient consideration of cine and 70 and 90 mm spot techniques. The imbalance in length of presentation reflects editorial or author interest rather than overall importance of subject matter; 36 pages are devoted to hiatus hernia, 25 pages to all pediatric aspects, and 53 pages to the small bowel. If it were not for the section on the colon, it would be impossible to recommend this volume even for the trainee. The chapters on the colon are superb, the enemas equisite (a la Welin). They make the book almost worth the purchase price.