by Scott W. Atlas (Author)
This fifth edition of Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine is written with the benefit of time and decades of experience with MRI in diagnosis and treatment guidance of neurologic disease. A full 25 years have passed since the first edition of the book was published, back when 1.5 Tesla scanners were emerging as the concensus “state-of-the-art” technology. Much has changed, but much has remained the same.
This remains a very challenging time for MRI, partly due to the disconnect between the cost of medical technology and unrealistic expectations of a naive public and agenda-driven politicians about the need to pay for it. Everyone believes in early detection, and no field will be more important in this pursuit than diagnostic imaging, but little attention is paid to its costs.
One fact that is undeniable that MRI has increased its dominance over other diagnostic methods for diseases of the brain and spine. In those neurologic disorders where MRI is secondary, it would be shortsighted to assume that MRI will not soon dominate. However, MRI technology remains beyond known or proven clinical applications, instrumentation is more complex than ever, and software for acquisition and image processing is still immature.
Alongside the maturation of MRI, molecular biology and genetics have come into the clinical arena. The overused hyperbole of “personalized medicine” is beginning to show some value. Along with the advances, relentless evolution of demographics and diseases continues. The world’s population is aging, and soon the elderly will dominate the health care system resources of all developed nations. Globalization of disease profiles is also underway; the chronic diseases of developed nations, with their reliance on imaging for diagnosis and treatment, are projected to overtake the traditionally dominating infectious and nutritional diseases of developing countries.
This is the time where the importance of guidance based on genuine expertise is at an unprecedented level, when the need for focused and relevant clinical research is at an all time high. More than ever, we should all remember that the diagnosis of neurologic disease must still be based on “the known”— neuropathology, genetics, clinical history, and proven imaging findings. Patients cannot afford to have their care misdirected by implementing new techniques solely because new techniques exist, and no one wants to waste their money on opinions not grounded in evidence.
As in all previous editions, this book is published with several goals in mind, including reinforcing and analyzing the detail of clinically important imaging findings; defining the role of MRI findings in the clinical setting of neurologic disease; illustrating the pathologic basis for MRI findings; and exploring the use of emerging MRI methods in the context of new contributions to diagnosis and treatment. We tried to highlight recent trends and changes in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of CNS diseases, and to relate those changes to MRI findings. Novel imaging methodology, including hardware- and software-based, is explained and explored in a variety of clinical settings, particularly where they may have the most impact. Emerging clinically relevant research in well-established neurologic disorders, like stroke and brain tumors, as well as developing clinical applications in nontraditional areas, including neurodegenerative disease, psychiatric disorders, and fetal anomalies, are discussed in detail.
As in past editions, I have attempted to produce a text where the authors are truly experts writing in their areas of expertise, and where clinical caveats are noted alongside new findings in an effort to suggest rationale for optimal utilization of emerging techniques. As usual, important limitations of imaging are noted. I tried to compile an author list filled with critical thinkers; if I failed to see that in the writing, then I admit that I inserted some of it myself (so, blame me for that, please, and spare the emails to the authors ...). In the end, I believe the author list of this edition meets and perhaps even surpasses previous editions—a very high bar to meet, in my opinion, but one that the reader will ultimately judge.
Finally, I am grateful to all of my friends and colleagues in neuroradiology, clinical and basic neuroscience, and medicine throughout the world. I am thrilled that many of the top experts in the field are willing to write for this book—I can’t thank them enough. I remain honored to have been trained by so many of the best in the field, and I am delighted to maintain close relationships with dozens of my former trainees. The enduring value of this book for more than 25 years has been based to a great extent on your research, clinical contributions, effort, and advice ... and of course, on the critical thinkers who have shaped my own thinking. I thank all of you for your generosity in allowing me to show your cases, and your sacrifices in personal time to contribute to what I hope is a special textbook.
Product details
- ASIN : 1469873206
- Publisher : LWW; Fifth edition (September 28, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 1504 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9781469873206
- ISBN-13 : 978-1469873206
- Item Weight : 10.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.75 x 2.75 x 11 inches
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