JAOA • Vol 107 • No 4 • April 2007 • 144-145
The Radiology Handbook: A Pocket Guide to Medical Imaging
Gilbert E. D'Alonzo, Jr, DO, Editor in Chief
American Osteopathic Association
Ohio University Press' White Coat Pocket Guide Series currently consists of
two pocket handbooks, both written and edited by osteopathic physicians, and
both aimed at improving practitioners' understanding of various diagnostic
tests. The first book in this series, The Guide to EKG
Interpretation, written and edited by John A. Brose, DO, and coauthored
by John C. Auseon, DO; Daniel Waksman, DO; and Michael J. Jarosick, DO
(Athens: Ohio University Press; 2006), is designed as a convenient resource
for medical students and physicians who need immediate information regarding
echocardiograms. Like its predecessor in the series, The Radiology
Handbook: A Pocket Guide to Medical Imaging is designed to serve as a
basic introduction and handy reference tool for physicians-in-training. The
guide is most appropriate for those who are not pursuing the specialty of
radiology but who require immediate information on ordering and interpreting a
variety of radiologic images for their patients. This concise, practical,
easy-to-read handbook fits into a lab coat pocket for a quick and accessible
topical review of various imaging studies that a family physician might
order.
The author of The Radiology Handbook, Jeff S. Benseler, DO, is a
practicing clinical radiologist and associate professor of radiology at Ohio
University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr Benseler's proficiency in
radiology and his more than 20 years of teaching experience form the backbone
of this guide. The result is the kind of product that busy clinicians need
most: a hands-on reference book that readers can thumb through to quickly
locate the desired
information.
A certain amount of the ease physicians will have in consulting The
Radiology Handbook is the result of its simple three-part structure:
"Ordering Schemes," "Imaging Overview," and
"Imaging Anatomy and Pathology." Together, these sections examine
in a concise and practical fashion every region of the body and every type of
imaging study that can be ordered.
- "Ordering Schemes" provides readers with a straightforward and
thorough list of recommended imaging tests organized by body region (literally
from head to toe) and related patient symptoms and conditions (from skull
fractures to tarsal coalitions). A computed tomography/magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) comparison chart is also included for regions of the body, such
as the head and neck, the musculoskeletal system, and the spine, in which it
may be more difficult for family physicians to determine the best imaging
methods to order for their patients.
- "Imaging Overview" comprises 12 chapters, which flawlessly
weave information about anatomy, pathology, and imaging studies into an
accessible reference tool to assist clinicians in ordering radiologic tests
and interpreting the results. This entire section is structured in
question-and-answer format, which allows readers to easily locate the desired
information. For example, one of the questions in the first chapter, which
focuses on radiographs, asks "How will I know if the X-ray is of
diagnostic quality?" Dr Benseler responds to this real-world question by
describing for his readers what to look for in under- or overexposed x-ray
films as well as the diagnostic errors that can occur as a result of such
images.
The first four chapters in "Imaging Overview" expose the four
basic imaging techniques: radiography, computed tomography, ultrasonography,
and MRI/PET (positron emission tomography). The next seven chapters of
"Imaging Overview" then discuss how best to determine which of
these four technologies is most suitable for detecting various pathologic
conditions. The 12th and final chapter of "Imaging Overview" takes
the information presented in the preceding chapters a step further by
discussing how practitioners and physicians-in-training can improve their
proficiency in ordering and interpreting radiologic images.
Dr Benseler also introduces a number of memory-enhancing techniques for
physicians throughout this section. Providing such a tool for physicians who
must visualize the pars interarticularis for patient diagnosis, Dr Benseler
introduces his readers to the "Scottie dog," a shape that can be
discerned in the lumbar spine when "connecting the dots" between
the articular facets, the pedicle, and the pars interarticularis.
Visual-recognition tips like this one are intended to help medical students
and physicians immediately identify the components of each region of the body
and their patients' conditions. Such tips also simultaneously provide readers
with an effective means for committing this new information to memory.
- The last part of the manual, "Imaging Anatomy and Pathology,"
provides 60 self-test images intended to challenge physicians' knowledge of
normal anatomy and common pathologic conditions. Each question consists of two
radiologic images on a single page, one with various anatomic features
alphabetically labeled as a simple reader-identification quiz, and a related
image that requires diagnosis. Answers are provided on the reverse side of
each page.
Resources for continued learning are provided for readers interested in
additional information in "Imaging Anatomy and Pathology." A
detailed and comprehensive index is included as well.
In addition to its reader-friendly format, The Radiology Handbook
provides high-quality images and related drawings and diagrams. Its superb
image quality will be highly effective at refreshing practitioners' knowledge
of radiology.
I recommend, without hesitation, The Radiology Handbook: A Pocket Guide
to Medical Imaging for all medical students and residents in family
medicine. In addition, I believe that it would be an excellent resource for
physicians in practice who commonly order radiologic studies for their
patients. 
Footnotes
By J.S. Benseler, DO. 283 pp, $20.00. ISBN 978-0-8214-1708-9. Athens: Ohio
University Press; 2006. Brose JA, ed. White Coat Pocket Guide Series.
