Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 4th ed. (2001)

AJR:176, March 2001 If you would like to review books for AJR , please send a cover letter stating your interest with a current curriculum vitae to Assistant Editor for Book Reviews, AJR , 101 S. Stratford Rd., Ste. 303, Winston-Salem, NC 27104. n my personal library, I have all four editions of Peter W. Callen’s Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology , a textbook that I consider to be the standard reference textbook in the field. Looking back on the first edition, which was published about the time I was getting ready to take the radiology boards, I remember that I considered this textbook to be the bible for obstetric sonography. Although in retrospect I still believe this to be true, the first edition appears relatively diminutive—a veritable 98-ounce weakling— when compared with the later editions. Throughout the subsequent editions, the textbook has continued to bulk up with new information, enhanced images, and color photographs and illustrations; moreover, like a professional baseball player on anabolic steroids, the newly published fourth edition continues to hit home runs. The new edition is an impressive tome, containing 1078 pages (in comparison, the first edition was only 346 pages), a voluminous index, innumerable state-of-the-art sonograms, correlative ultrasound studies, specimen photographs, and multiple tables and diagrams. The increase in size from edition to edition is not mere fluff but an impressive addition of new material and information gleaned from the medical literature since the previous publication. Compared with the third edition published 6 years ago, the current edition contains two additional chapters and new or expanded sections covering topics such as sonography of infertility, surgical therapy for fetal anomalies, ultrasound evaluation of syndromes, and three-dimensional ultrasound, to name only a few. In addition, as in previous editions, Dr. Callen has enlisted the aid of leading authorities in the field to update and expand the information contained in the textbook. As a result, each chapter is replete with a wealth of new information and extensive current references pertaining to obstetric and gynecologic sonography. Familiar and user-friendly appendixes covering a wide array of fetal and gynecologic sonographic measurements are still found at the back of the book, a section that always seems to get a lot of use by my residents when they go over the cases before review with the attending radiologist. A useful appendix on sonographic detection of chromosomal abnormalities has been added to the fourth edition since the publication of the third. Like the previous editions, the fourth edition is well organized and the subject matter is easily found using either the table of contents or the index. The textbook can be used to provide a quick reference at the viewbox, or, alternatively, individual chapters can be read in their entirety to provide more detailed knowledge of a particular subject. The multiple tables, diagrams, and illustrations serve to enhance the text and illuminate the many teaching points. In summary, the fourth edition of Callen’s Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology is a valuable addition to your ultrasound library even if you have access to the earlier editions. The increase in new information is substantial, and the extra shelf space necessary for the bulked up new edition is certainly worth it. Randall M. Patten Denver Health Medical Center Denver, CO 80204 Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 4th ed. Edited by Peter W. Callen. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1078 pp., 2000. $95