Imaging of soft tissue tumors (second edition)

Abstract

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volumeVol. 89-B, No. 7 Book ReviewsFree AccessImaging of soft tissue tumors (second edition) Edited by M. J. Kransdorf and M. D. Murphey Pp 588. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2006, ISBN: 0-7817-4771-6. $199.00.Alistair RossAlistair RossSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Jul 2007https://doi.org/10.1302/0301-620X.89B7.0890991bAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsAdd to Favourites ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail When a surgeon sits down to review a book that is primarily aimed at radiologists, it has to be a remarkable volume that will retain his interest throughout and be praised unreservedly at its conclusion.This book is the result of a monumental effort to classify and describe more than 30 000 soft-tissue tumours seen in the Department of Soft Tissue Pathology of the US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology over a 10-year period. These are documented in detail in Chapter 2 with their prevalence by age, sex and anatomical location. This follows a preliminary chapter on the origin and classification of soft-tissue tumours which introduces the WHO classification before giving a brief account of the immunohistochemical and genetic markers used in diagnosis. Chapter 3 is modestly titled “Imaging of Soft Tissue Tumours”; essentially it covers the whole process of tumour staging. There then follow chapters on the imaging of the various types of soft-tissue tumour and tumour-like lesions and a final chapter on compartmental anatomy.So far, so good, but it gets better. In each section, the key concepts are abstracted and boxed. Consequently, within the main body of the text there is, in effect, a second book which comprises short notes on the first. This considerably enhances its value as a reference book by making the relevant information rapidly accessible. Indeed, I can barely remember the last tme I read a medical book which was so clearly written and so devoid of waffle.Invevitably, a book on imaging stands or falls on the quality of its images. While there are a few illustrations which fall below a desirable standard, these are usually examples of the rarer conditions where the authors will only have had access to one or two cases. In a work of this breadth, this is not only inevitable but eminently forgivable. Otherwise, the figures are clear and well annotated. The work, as a whole, is well-referenced, well-indexed and well-produced.I enjoyed this book immensely. In their preface, the authors declae their intent to “provide a systematic approach to the radiologic evaluation and diagnosis of soft tissue tumors and tumor-like masses.” Not only have they achieved this, but they have done so with rigour and clarity. Any surgeon with an interest in soft-tissue tumours should have a copy of this book in his personal library next to Enzinger and Weiss which it complements perfectly. Others, without any interest in soft-tissue tumours, could read it with benefit as a model of how to communicate a large amount of detailed information with style, brevity and pellucid clarity.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 89-B, No. 7 Metrics Downloaded 123 times History Published online 1 July 2007 Published in print 1 July 2007 InformationCopyright © 2007, The British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery: All rights reservedPDF download