P.F. Rambaldi
New York, NY: Springer, 2014, 352 pages, $99
By presenting a picture of human anatomy on which biologic information is added, PET/CT allows better delineation of disease within or between structures, as well as guiding surgical and radiation planning and biopsy. It also allows prognostic stratification that has immediate and sometimes dramatic consequences, not only on the subsequent choice of treatment but also on the quality of life of patients and their families. This atlas or manual of PET/CT provides an educational approach toward defining the principles and good practices of PET/CT and thus is essential for practitioners of nuclear medicine and radiology who want to learn more about molecular diagnostics and therapeutics in cancer management.
The 80 chapters are a large collection of clinical cases in oncology with accompanying whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT images. The 12 contributors of the cases are mostly from Naples, Italy. The aim of the book is to promote an integrated approach to the use of PET/CT, and detailed attention is therefore paid to the clinical history and diagnostic question. The 12 parts of this book are broadly structured according to anatomic region and cover a wide range of common diseases likely to be imaged using PET/CT, including those of the biliary system, head and neck, colon–rectum, esophagus, lymphatic system, breast, pancreas, lung, stomach, and urinary tract, as well as gynecologic diseases and melanoma. The focus of every case is to provide guidance on the clinical report, which is the official tool for communicating with both the referring physician and the patient. For this reason, the report needs to be clear, understandable, and written in a shared language. The advice on report preparation is strongly supported by informative PET, CT, and PET/CT images of each disease. The illustrative images are clear and informative. There are no tables or references.
This book should be valuable to all those training or working in the field of nuclear medicine, radiology, and oncology who want to ensure that they are best placed to contextualize, interpret, and report the findings of PET/CT, which can have such a dramatic impact on prognosis, therapeutic response, and quality of life.
- © 2014 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.