Several years ago textbooks covering the subspecialty of diagnostic ultrasound did not exist. The last two years has seen a proliferation of texts to fill this void. The latest is entitled "Fundamentals of Medical Ultrasonography." The book is edited and partially written by Gilbert Baum, M.D., Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of Ultrasound Laboratory at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Distinguished contributing authors have written chapters to supplement Dr. Baum's section on ophthalmologic ultrasound.
This text, in addition to being the latest to appear, is not only the most voluminous (474 pages) but also the most expensive ($50). The book has been divided into two basic sections. Part one consists of 133 pages and is devoted to the physics of diagnostic ultrasound and instrumentation. It is excellent and will undoubtedly become a standard source of reference in this area. The second part is devoted to the clinical application of diagnostic ultrasound. Dr. Baum's section on ophthalmologic ultrasound is superb. It is complete and well written. However, it occupies 39% of the total space devoted to clinical applications.' Neurology occupies anqther ,1496. Uses in Cardiology receives only 11% and the study of the abdomen and obstetrical-gynecological uses receive only 7% each. The title of this book suggests that it is intended to be a general laboratory reference source. It is felt that the percentage of space allotted to each body area is grossly out of proportion to the ratio of various studies performed by the average ultrasound laboratory today.
Illustration of the technical portions of the book has been limited almost exclusively to ophthalmologic applications. In a time when our field is rapidly switching to Gray Scale presentation, concise information on this mode is badly needed. It was disappointing to find little space allotted to this need.
The real strength of this text lies in the sections on instrumentation and ophthalmologc ultrasound. Both of these sections are written in a manner to make them understandable and useful to both technicians and physicians. If your laboratory is looking for a good reference source on instrumentation or if your laboratory does primarily ophthalmology, this book is highly recommended. However, it has significant limitations as a general reference source.