As a radiologist who has participated with enthusiasm in the development of vascular imaging and intervention over the past 10 years, I was dismayed to see the relatively small input of radiologist contributors in this attractive text. Most contributing authors are surgeons, and the majority of these are from the United Kingdom and Europe. In fact, in the preface to his book, Dr. Greenhalgh mentions only the vascular technologist as “an entity alongside the vascular surgeon [who] has emerged as a natural partner!” Perhaps practice patterns are different in Europe, but in North America there is certainly a healthy working relationship between vascular surgeons and vascular interventional radiologists. I do not believe that many gastrointestinal radiologists would venture to write a text on hepatobiliary surgery for radiologists without a significant contribution from their surgical colleagues!
This is an easily read text with excellent illustrations. The organization appears somewhat haphazard: in the introduction, basic sections on imaging arterial wall movement, classification of the morphologic characteristics of plaque and measurement of blood flow and compliance are separated by a chapter dealing with graft infection; sections on carotid, coronary, aortic, visceral, renal and peripheral arterial imaging are followed by separate sections on varicose veins, deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and venous surgery.
The book suffers from the multiplicity of contributors, who deal with their own particular focus of clinical practice and research, with no unifying theme. There is little meat to most chapters, which deal rather superficially with many important imaging issues. I believe that a greater degree of involvement by radiologists, angiographers and other imagers would have added to the unity and depth of the text.
I cannot strongly recommend this book as a reference text or as a particularly valuable overview of vascular imaging. It may be of use to surgical residents interested in vascular disease who wish to acquaint themselves with a few of the capabilities of vascular ultrasonography, Doppler imaging, spiral computed tomography, magnetic resonance angiography and angioscopy as practised in the United Kingdom and Europe.