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Book R e v i e w Spiral CT of the Body: A Teaching File R. Brooke Jeffrey, Jr., and Elliot K. Fishman Philadelphia, New York: Lippincott-Raven, 1996. ISBN 0-397-51668-1; pp 325; figures 150. B. Jeffrey and E. Fishman are both well-known experts in the field of computed tomography and body imaging. In Spiral CT of the Body: A Teaching File, they are presenting an assortment of cases to highlight the capabilities of contrast-enhanced spiral CT. The book is clearly structured in 11 sections, covering all organic or anatomic regions of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis. A total of 150 cases with almost 570 figures are presented. According to clinical importance, the authors attach particular meaning to the cardiovascular system, the chest, the gastrointestinal tract, and the liver. The examples are carefully selected to illustrate the feasibility and clinical utilization of spiral CT. The technical capabilities of spiral CT are demonstrated, and for every case the findings of imaging, the final diagnosis, a focused discussion, and a few references are provided. The use of spiral CT, with its increased scan speed and gapless depiction of a region of interest, is demonstrated. The examples in the cardiovascular section show the usefulness of the different three-dimensional reformation techniques
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(shaded-surface display, multiplanar reformation, and maximum intensity projection). The illustrations in the chest section reflect the importance of breath-held imaging enabled by fast scanning, emphasizing the optimal depiction with contrast bolus of pulmonary or mediastinal tumors and cardiovascular structures. Less importance is attached to the diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases and pulmonary nodules. Another feature of the increased scan speed of spiral CT scanners is separation of the arterial and portal-venous perfusion phases of the liver after bolus contrast administration. Typical and atypical hepatic pathological conditions are presented, with special emphasis on their appearance in the different perfusion phases. One might prefer more information about typical scan parameters, contrast administration, contrast bolus timing, and related spiral scan settings. However, the book is not intended as a comprehensive textbook and, therefore, is not directed toward the beginner in body and chest diagnostics or in CT. Nevertheless, the display of spiral CT features combined with the excellent case presentation make this book a very useful teaching aid, deepening the understanding of sophisticated spiral CT.
Reviewed by Thomas Helmberger, M.D.
