Pocket Atlas of Sectional Anatomy: Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Volume I: Head and Neck; Volume II: Thorax, Heart, Abdomen, and Pelvis, 4th edn Edited By Torsten B.Moeller & EmilReif, Vol I: 342 pages, Vol II: 351 pages. Thieme Medical Publishers, Stuttgart, Germany, 2013.

Abstract

Guaranteed: if you are a medical student, you will at some point be presented with a radiograph or imaging display by a resident doctor or consultant asking that time-honored apprehension-inducing question: can you tell me what you see? If you are a resident doctor or consultant, chances are you will at some point be presented with a referral letter and a radiograph or imaging report by a patient asking that time-honored question: can you tell me what is wrong? On such occasions, most students or resident doctors would perhaps wish that they had an atlas in their pocket. It is in the pockets of white coats that Drs. Torsten Moeller and Emil Reif of the Radiology department in Marienhaus Klinikum, Germany hope their Pocket Atlas of Sectional Anatomy will establish natural and perpetual residence. The authors have just released the fourth edition of a 3-volume set of computed tomography and magnetic resonance images of the body of which volumes 1 and 2 were provided for this review. Volume 1 covers the Head and Neck region, contains 792 illustrations and weighs in at 342 pages while volume 2 contains 599 illustrations in 351 pages that deal with the Thorax, Abdomen and Pelvis. Special magnetic resonance imaging such as cholangiopancreatography and urography, as well as MR angiography and MR mammography also receive attention in the book. In keeping with current trends, both volumes are available as printed copies or else as digital download files. Use of digital versions requires the proprietary application VitalSource BookShelf which is available free to download for desktop or tablets; in my hands, I found the application easy and straightforward enough to use on desktop and tablet. However, the digital versions of the book are associated with an annual subscription. Dr. Moeller has done an extraordinary job of rendering the radiographic images in illustrated color diagrams. Presentation of the images is systematic and uniform. Only normal anatomy is depicted in the images. Every plane is addressed: sagittal, coronal, axial, and transverse. Each CT or MR slice is laid out on 2 pages. The first page shows the image, the plane and level at which the slice was obtained, and in many instances a minimally annotated miniature (thumbnail) illustration that demonstrates lymph nodes and organ segments. The second page shows a larger fully annotated colored illustration that demonstrates and identifies all the anatomical structures depicted on the image. Muscles, bones, nerves, vessels and lymph nodes are all depicted in the illustrations and appropriately colored. Care was also taken in conforming to anatomical and clinical conventions for numbering cardiac vessels and mediastinal lymph nodes. Anyone expecting to see traditional regional anatomy groupings of the material in the book may be a bit disappointed. Images from planes through the face are collectively classified with the ‘Neck’, while imaging of the head is classified with ‘Cranium’ which includes the brain. So to whom are the books directed at? As anatomy atlases go, it is quite good. It does an excellent job of placing all of the complex interpretation of radiological imaging of morphology in one location. Anatomists will find the books especially useful for teaching radiographic anatomy and correlation. Medical students taking anatomy and rotating through radiology clerkships will find this book very useful because of the way the imaging is tied to detailed diagrammatic representation of the anatomy. Along with resident doctors and imaging specialists, they will also find the book helpful for reference. The absence however of explanatory text in this atlas means that its value is greatest as an accompanying resource to a textbook of radiology or radiographic anatomy. In my opinion, the books successfully strike a very good balance between needs and trends. It displays imaging modalities that are part of the practice of modern medicine today, ties that to detailed interpretative and correlative anatomy, contains excellently illustrated anatomy of the body, and is available in hard copy and electronic formats for today's mobile digital age. It certainly should be part of the collection for anatomists who teach radiographic anatomy and clinicians who need ready and rapid access to reference information on imaging. Once Dr. Moeller has had a chance to recover from the exertions of the incredibly wonderful use of the thenar, hypothenar, lumbrical and interosseous muscles that went into the making of these books, I wonder whether Drs. Moeller and Reif could be persuaded to consider publishing an atlas of imaging for clinico-pathological conditions and diseases?