Problem Solving in Abdominal Imaging

In this voluminous textbook, the objective of the authors is to help the readers, in particular the gastrointestinal radiologists facing problematic abdominal images, in reaching the correct diagnosis. The book is subdivided into five sections: the first one, “Advanced Modalities as Problem-Solving Tool,” discusses in four chapters the role of ultrasonography, multidetector computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography. The fifth chapter concludes this section with a very informative review of “A Multidimensional Approach to Abdominal Imaging.” Section 2, “Problem Solving: Disease Categories,” deals with localization and spread of disease; emphasizes the point that often the pathologic process is not localized to a specific organ and its origin may be removed from its present localization; and discusses the discovery by computed tomography of small incidentalomas, incidental asymptomatic lesions, and how to follow them. In “Imaging Evaluation of Acute Abdominal Pain,” the authors review the numerous possible causes and the related different diagnostic conclusions. The chapter “Imaging Evaluation of Trauma” presents the role of the different imaging procedures in the study of a trauma, wherever its location in the abdominal cavity. In “A Brief Guide to Cancer Imaging,” the staging and spread of malignant tumors involving the abdomen and pelvis are discussed. This section ends with a chapter dealing with common inherited and metabolic disorders.