Category Archives: Full Reviews

Bendok BR, Naidech AM, Walker MT, et al.  Hemorrhagic and Ischemic Stroke: Medical, Imaging, Surgical, and Interventional Approaches.  Thieme 2011, 584 pages, 542 illustrations, $199.99.

Hemorrhagic and Ischemic Stroke is a multidisciplinary, 584-page hardcover textbook which discusses the medical, radiological, surgical, and image-guided interventional aspects of this topic. It is co-edited by 2 neurosurgeons (Drs. Bendok and Batjer), a neurologist (Dr. Naidech), and a neuroradiologist (Dr. Walker). The imaging input into this text is substantial, and radiology abounds throughout the book, even in areas where imaging is not the primary topic of the section. A significant portion of the … Continue reading >>

Kirsch R.  Fighting For Our Health.  The Rockefeller Institute Press 2012, 416 pages, $19.95.

Fighting For Our Health provides a left-sided perspective on the processes and powers that led to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March of 2010.  The author is neither an academic nor a health care provider.  He has spent much of his recent career working with an advocacy organization called Health Care for America Now that is headquartered on K street in Washington, D.C., backed by a coalition which includes grass roots support, powerful unions, and wealthy backers.

The … Continue reading >>

Ulmer S, Jansen O, eds.  fMRI Basics and Clinical Applications.  Springer 2010, 175 pages, 70 illustrations, $149.00.

With the ever-increasing availability of high-field strength MRI scanners, the demand for clinical functional MRI studies is outstripping the supply of formally trained individuals to fill this need.  fMRI: Basics and Clinical Applications seeks to address this critical need by providing the interested novice with the tools necessary to develop such a program.

The 181-page book is organized into two large sections that first review the basics of fMRI and then discuss various clinical applications.  The contributing authors are internationally distinguished … Continue reading >>

Nanda A.  Principles of Posterior Fossa Surgery.  Thieme 2011, 272 pages, 308 illustrations, $139.99.

It was a pleasure to review this book, which is very comprehensive in its coverage on the diagnosis, management, and prognosis of diseases of the posterior fossa. This book has described extensively and accurately the anatomical aspects of posterior fossa through skull base and intraoperative images, with apt correlation to the radiological imaging. This correlation enables the reader to understand and remember better the normal anatomy of posterior fossa.

Further, the author has covered all the important and commonly encountered topics of posterior fossa:  trauma, … Continue reading >>

Vadivelu N, Urman R, Hines R, eds.  Essentials of Pain Management.  Springer 2011, 834 pages, 114 illustrations, $99.00.

Essentials of Pain Management by Drs. Nalini Vadivelu, Richard D. Urman, and Roberta L. Hines is a 834-page detailed text on this subject.  The authors are anesthesiologists dealing with the management of the commonest of all symptoms that practitioners deal with on a day-to-day basis.  The book is divided into nine parts covering all aspects of a pain management.  The book covers the subject broadly and chapters touch on alternative forms of treatment such as acupuncture as well as the … Continue reading >>

Burgener FA, Herzog C, Meyers SP, et al.  Differential Diagnosis in Computed Tomography.  2nd Ed.  Thieme 2012, 868 pages, 2146 illustrations, $219.00.

The second edition of Differential Diagnosis in Computed Tomography, written by Drs. Burgener, Herzog, Meyers, Zaunbauer, is an 854-page hardcover text which covers the field of CT imaging. Included are six separate sections: Intracranial Lesions, Head and Neck, Spine, MSK, Thorax, Abdomen and Pelvis. Considering the parts of the book concerned with neurology (which includes a short segment on spine fractures in the MSK section), neuroradiology consumes well over half of this book (480 pages).

In the … Continue reading >>

Mukherji SK, consulting ed.  Gupta RK, guest ed. Neuroimaging Tropical Disease. Elsevier; November 2011. Neuroimaging Clinics of North America; vol. 21, no. 4, pgs. 737-988, $314 for a 12-month subscription.

The latest issue of the Neuroimaging Clinics of North America is entitled Neuroimaging Tropical Disease, and Dr. Rakesh K. Gupta was wisely chosen as the guest editor. Dr. Gupta is widely recognized as a leading authority in neuroradiology, particularly in advanced MR techniques. He has chosen 27 authors to write chapters on 14 subjects, most of which are germane to and specifically deal with tropical disease affecting … Continue reading >>

Biller J, Ferro JM, eds.  Evidence-based Management of Stroke.  Harley: tfm Publishing Limited, 2011, 334 pages, $99.00.

Over the last two decades, advances in the treatment of stroke have occurred at a seemingly breakneck pace.  It was not so long ago that the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke published its landmark rt-PA Stroke Study, which was the first large randomized controlled trial demonstrating the efficacy of intravenous rt-PA for treating patients with acute strokes.  Now, intravenous rt-PA is standard treatment for patients presenting within 4.5 hours of ictus of an ischemic stroke.   In addition, over the last … Continue reading >>

Castillo M. Neuroradiology Companion:  Methods, Guidelines, and Imaging Fundamentals.  Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2011, 624 pages, $89.95.

The 4^th edition of Dr. Castillo’s highly successful Neuroradiology Companion: Methods, Guidelines, and Imaging Fundamentals is now available. It contains basic information which should be known by every trainee, whether fellow or resident. It provides a reasonable summary of major diseases that can be reviewed by all those involved in the interpretation of neuroimaging studies.

This softcover, 605-page book is 178 pages longer than its predecessor and contains a number of new features. It is divided into … Continue reading >>

Law M, Som PM, Naidich TP.  Problem Solving in Neuroradiology. Mosby Elsevier, 2011, 655 pages, $149.00.

To instill the Socratic method of teaching in a neuroradiology textbook is an interesting approach to education. Drs. Law, Som and Naidich—along with 35 co-authors—have put together a “problem solving” textbook, with questions embedded in many, but not all, chapters. When used, it focuses the reader’s attention to the material in the chapters. As with many books these days, the entire text is searchable online when you activate your account with a code unique to each book.

The book is divided into 4 sections: … Continue reading >>