B O O K R E V I E W S 99

BOOK REVIEWS

Roentgen Diagnosis of Diseases of the Skull. By MAX RITVO. Pp. 408, 368 Illustrations. 195o. London : Cassel l& Co. £5 iSs. 6d.

THIS book is one of the Annals of Roentgenology series. T h e material is drawn almost entirely from the files of the Boston City Hospital . T h e book is wri t ten by a radiologist who appreciates the difficulties of interpretat ion of radiograms of the skull and who recognizes the value of inclusion of a short outline of the clinical features,

T h e first 45 pages deal wi th the examinations o f the skull, describing the normal appearances and variations. Th is is well done without stressing the technical aspect of radiography too much.

T h e chapters on anomalies, trauma, infection, and the effect of consti tutional disease occupying the next 15o pages are good. T h e r e is a useful chapter on the f~etal skull during pregnancy. T h e rest of the book deals chiefly wi th the results of lesions of the brain, its coverings and blood-vessels. The re is a short chapter on angiography, but intraventricular air injection is omitted. T h e author states that certain examinations have been left out but it is not easy to separate the brain f rom the skull in any radiological w o r k ; it is equally difficult to discuss the radiological evidence indicative of brain turnout wi thout including ventr iculography, especially when angiography is discussed. One also misses reference to diseases of the accessory nasal sinuses.

T h e book is easy to read, the type is good, and the size of the illustrations is well judged. Most of the illustrations are satisfactory but in a number the detail required to illustrate the condit ion described has been lost in reproduct ion.

T h e accounts of the rare conditions are helpful, but one misses references to the work of certain recognized authorities.

Die Durchleuchtungs-technik der Thoraxorgane. By E. A. ZIMMER. Pp. z19. ~949. Basle : Benno Schwabe & Co. 12.5 ° Swiss francs.

CHEST fluoroscopy is a t ime-consuming process which calls for intense concentrat ion and considerable knowledge and experience on the part of the examiner ; it cannot be delegated to a junior or a tech- niciah, and if long continued is not free f rom risk to both patient and examiner. Fur thermore , fluoroscopy provides no permanent record, and accurate comparison with serial examinations is hardly possible. Where large numbers of patients have to be examined it has been superseded by mass radiography or full-size f i lms--never theless , chest fluoroscopy still has a wide field of applicability, and it remains the method par excellence for the examination of those cases where an accurate assessment of movemen t is required.

In view of the above it is interesting to find a Continental author whose enthusiasm for chest fluoroscopy has induced h im to write a book on this subject. Into the short space of 119 pages he has packed a vast amount of information on almost every condit ion which the chest physician is likely to meet wi thin the course of an Out-Pat ient Clinic ; and it is to the chest physician rather than the radiologist that the book is addressed. A brief and summarized account is given of all the commoner pulmonary lesions, and the descriptions of diaphragmatic and respiratory movements are particularly valuable. T h e technical aspects of screening are given in detail, and points o f technique often omit ted or glossed over in larger works are here presented with considerable clarity. T o the chest physician and the embryo radiological specialist the book can be recommended with every confidence as a pr imer on chest f luoroscopy--even the experienced radiologist will find it interesting and instructive.

T h e publishers are to be congratulated on the general appearance of their w o r k - - p a p e r and illustrations are of a quality seldom seen in Great Britain since before the War.