170 BOOK REVIEWS CLINICAL IMAGING VOL. 14, NO. 2

nar anatomy is the purpose of such an atlas and the use of plain anatomical drawings in order to relate the cross-sectional plates to the general topography of the body would be extremely useful. I think this was very successfully done in Anatomy and MRI of the Joints: A Multiplanar Atlas edited by William Middleton and Thomas Lawson and published by Raven Press. This, however, might have made this book more complexed than Dr. Lyons desired.

Finally, the use of a 9” x 6” format is too small. The advantage of a book like this using these prints is its detail. Going much smaller than a 12” x 9”

format makes these plates extremely cumbersome to use. Although I feel that there is a substantial need for an easily used paperback atlas, this one has too many faults to recommend it.

RICHARD J. WECHSLER, MD Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia, PA

Brain Imaging: An Introduction John R. Bradshaw. Publisher: Wright, 1989, 249 pages.

This book provides a brief overview of the more com- mon clinical entities encountered in Neuroradiology and the imaging modalities available for diagnosis. Introductory chapters summarize the basic princi- ples of various imaging techniques, such as plain skull radiographs and tomography, radionuclide brain scanning, cerebral ultrasound, cerebral angiog- raphy, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic res- onance imaging (MRI). The majority of the book is organized according to chapters devoted to various clinical presentations, such as, headache, unilateral weakness, seizures, coma, etc. A brief discussion of the clinical entities and differential diagnosis are provided, followed by cases as examples. A brief clin- ical history and questions are provided along with various imaging studies, followed by a brief discus- sion of the case. In the discussion, the images are analyzed and radiographic features of the specific clinical entities are provided.

This book provides a brief introduction to Neurora- diology which is more suitable for clinicians or stu- dents. The degree of detailed discussion is insuffi- cient for a radiologist’s needs. The book is clearly written and the images are of good quality. Although an introductory discussion of the principles of MRI is provided, there are very few cases with examples of

MRI and too many examples of rarely used modalities such as radionuclide brain scanning.

CAREN JAHRE, MD The New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical College New York, NY

Magnetic Resonance Workbook N. A. Matwiyoff, New York: Raven Press, 1990, Paperback, $29.50, 120 pages.

Writing a primer to explain basic proton magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) theory in terms that are in- tuitive to the beginner is a difficult task for at least two reasons. First, without any underlying theory to guide both author and reader, there is no internal framework to defend against (and possibly provide a basis for correcting) small errors that slip in and con- fuse the novice. For example, the magnetic moments in Diagram l-l and in Figure 1-5 are directed antipar- allel to their angular momenta (as would be appro- priate for negatively charged particles, but not for positively charged protons). On the other hand, Fig- ure 4-l correctly depicts the relationship between angular momenta and magnetic moments for protons. Similarly, left-handed coordinate systems (Figure 2-4 and most of the figures in chapters 4, 5, and 6) are freely intermingled with right-handed coordinate systems (Figures l-10, l-11, and 2-7) to the detriment of anyone who has studied either angular motion or magnetism in an introductory physics course. Such lapses tend to penalize the better prepared and more observant readers most. Second, it is very difficult to simplify complex matters without being misleading. For example, the answer to question 4 at the end of Chapter 1 tells us “The strength of a static magnetic field has no effect on the appearance of a proton magnetic resonance image.” While this may be true in light of the limited information available from Chapter 1, it is not true when other factors such as relaxation times and signal to noise ratios are prop- erly included. Similarly, the answer to question 19 in Chapter 9 tells us “The larger the strength of a static magnetic field is, the larger are the associated fringe fields . . .” This needs to be qualified by some phase such as “for a given type of magnet” since a 0.8 T vertical field permanent magnet may have less fringe fields than a 0.1 T horizontal field supercon- ducting magnet.

Despite such difficulties, N. A. Matwiyoff manages to provide many intuitive insights into the generation of MRI signals, frequency encoding, and phase en- coding through the use of bar magnets, compass nee-