Radiological Imaging in Hematological Malignancies

A. Guermazi and I.F. Abdelwahab

Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag, 2004, 581 pages, $320

This book is designed primarily to explore the imaging of hematologic malignancies for radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians. It will also be a useful text for hematologists, oncologists, residents, and physicians in related fields to enhance their appreciation of the benefits and limitations of imaging of these diseases.

The 28 chapters are written by a total of 63 authors. Images of patient cases are the foundation for many of the chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction to MRI of the bone marrow. Chapters 2 through 18 relate to lymphomas and associated disorders. Chapters 19, 20, and 21 are dedicated to case histories and illustrations of myeloproliferative disorders. Chapters 22 through 25 explore the effects of therapy on the central nervous system, thorax, abdomen, and musculoskeletal system after therapeutic intervention for hematologic malignancies. Chapters 26 through 28 are of interest in the evolving world of interventional radiologists. They introduce percutaneous image-guided lymph node needle biopsy, surgical endoscopic techniques in patients with lymphomas, and image-guided therapeutic percutaneous procedures. Each of the chapters is well illustrated with images from T1- and T2-weighted MRI studies, computed tomographic studies, and nuclear medicine studies and with well-chosen correlative gross and microscopic anatomic images.

Of interest to diagnostic imaging professionals who may not be familiar with the list of hematologic malignancies are sections on the classifications of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in chapter 2, written by Stephen Marglin. Chapter 11, written by Hyun Ju Lee and Byung Ihn Choi, contains a table on the World Health Organization classification of lymphoid malignancies and a table on the International Prognostic Index for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This information will aid in enhancing the dialog between imaging professionals and clinical hematologists.

As with any book with multiple authors, there is some variation in content from chapter to chapter. The first 349 pages are related to lymphomas and associated diseases. One of the chapters deals specifically with imaging of amyloidosis and contains interesting plain radiographs of the gastrointestinal changes seen in amyloidosis. The chapters are designed around case studies. Each of the cases throughout the book is well documented with pathologic (when available), radiologic, and nuclear medicine images. In some chapters, there are beautiful illustrations of the microscopic pathology associated with the disease. Of unique and particular interest is the chapter on image-guided therapeutic percutaneous procedures, which explores modern and emerging techniques of percutaneous injection of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The use of PMMA for percutaneous vertebroplasty is an expanding field of interest, particularly for interventional radiologists.

In general, this book is very well written and edited. Imaging specialists with interests in PET and nuclear medicine may wish to have additional sources of information. One suggested source is Clinical PET: Principles and Applications by Edmund Kim, Myung-Chul Lee, Tomio Inoue, and Wai Hoi Wong. In all, I found Radiologic Imaging and Hematologic Malignancies by A. Guermazi to be a readable, useful, and enjoyable book to assist me in understanding the complexities of imaging of hematologic malignancies. I am delighted to have it as an addition to my library.