636BOOK REVIEWS ning systems. This chapter is followed by 2 chapters about technical and diagnostic aspects of nuclear medicine, also well written but with only one page about the therapeutic applications. The first part is ended by a short but well focused chapter about neutron and proton therapy and a more extensive one about radiation protection.The second part devotes 3 chapters to radiobiological aspects, normal tissue tolerance and the importance offractionation. Unconventional fractionation schemes are shortly presented, with some very preliminary results from trials in one of the last chapters about "New developments in radiotherapy and oncology". The major part of this section describes the various tumor sites from epidemiologic, pathologic, diagnostic and therapeutic -surgical, radiotherapeutic and medical -aspects. The importance of all treatment modalities both in the curative and in the palliative settings are emphasized. These chapters give good descriptions although some of them, particularly the one about gastrointestinal cancer, contain a few unnecessary mistakes. That chapter is also not very well updated -the literature of the latest 2 to 3 years has not been properly followed.The chapter about lymphoid malignancies belongs to the better ones, although even there minor errors appear. Treatment recommendations are anchored in British traditions, to some extent also local ones, although in many instances it is clearly stressed when uncertainties about the best treatment recommendation are present. Certain statements are, however, too categoric. The sections about the content of palliative treatment and the importance of quality of life are short, but very nicely presented with sound recommendations.This book covers a great number of aspects, not immediately of direct importance for radiotherapy, but desirable in a study book for radiotherapy assistants, oncologic nurses and radiation physicists. It can also be recommended as an introductory book for physicians under training and to oncologists/radiotherapists. It is, however, not detailed enough for any specialist in radiotherapy or oncology as a reference book. In that context, the lack of references, although reducing the number of pages, is a disadvantage.
Price: hardcover DEM 298.The author, Professor BAHK, radiologist and nuclear medicine specialist at the Catholic University College in Seoul, South Korea, is highly experienced in the diagnosis of bone and joint diseases. His message is to maximize the benefit of physiological information in a nuclear medicine bone scan by enlarging the images and increasing the spatial resolution to the point where it can be closely correlated with the structural detail of conventional radiographs. This is performed by using a pinhole collimator instead of the conventional parallel-hole collimator of the gamma camera. By combining these techniques, it is possible to enhance the specificity as well as the sensitivity of the test, facilitating an early and specific diagnosis in various bone and joint disorders. Structural changes are not quantitative, but measurement of bone metabolic activity by pinhole scintigraphy can provide an objective biological marker.The basic part of the book covers the pertinent bone physiology, bone-scan agents, and fundamental physics of the pinhole collimator, as well as a description of the normal anatomy on pinhole scintigraphy. There is also a survey of the technique of how to optimize the investigation of the different skeletal structures in order to save time but not lose image quality. The clinical part covers most of the common bone and joint diseases. The major chapters focus on bone infections, various arthritides, bone tumors and tumorous conditions, otorhinolaryngeal diseases, vascularity-related bone lesions, sports injuries, and general traumatology. Seronegative spondylo-arthropathies, rheumatic syndromes, and metabolic bone diseases are also discussed. A number of cases are presented with MR-and CRimages in addition to the radiograms.This well-written book contains few new facts but much valuable information. It is arranged in a logical manner according to the different disorders and the book readily serves as a textbook. Current reference lists and a subject index are included. The illustrations, based on good-quality scintigrams and radiograms, are very convincing of the complementary character of the 2 diagnostic modalities. The scintigrams are presented as "old-fashioned" analogous registrations, exhibiting a quality seldom achieved in digitized images. However, some of the information obtained by pinhole scintigraphy of especially large and complicated anatomic structures, such as the skull and the face, may also be obtained by SPECT examination using an optimized high-resolution technique. Ambitiously, the author tries
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