Thieme Publishing website, undated
5 points by Patrick Freyhardt
Brief Description/Content/Target Audience
This book is intended for students and physicians in postgraduate training who wish to systematically familiarize themselves with thoracic imaging. It is a concise textbook that conveys knowledge to the reader in a brief and to-the-point manner, while placing a strong emphasis on ensuring that the reader truly understands the material.
Structure
The first two chapters cover the anatomy of the thorax and provide guidance on interpreting chest X-rays, so a solid background in the subject is not strictly necessary. In addition to anatomical aspects, the book also provides a basic explanation of physiological aspects and their influence on the appearance of normal lungs as well as pathological findings. Various diagrams, mnemonics, and illustrations of corresponding CT images aid in understanding. Following the two introductory chapters, the next nine chapters provide a more detailed description of individual parts of the thorax—such as the skeleton, pleura, and mediastinum—as well as specific findings, including diffuse changes, streaky-reticular changes, and so on. In the final three chapters, the reader learns about foreign bodies, thoracic trauma, and critical care thoracic findings.
Didactics
As mentioned earlier, the book aims to promote active comprehension of the material, which is achieved through a self-assessment at the end of each chapter as well as various review questions on topics covered in previous sections. Learning objectives are outlined at the beginning, and a “quiz” is used to assess whether they have been met. The text reads smoothly and is easy to remember throughout. Key terms are highlighted in color, and various tables provide a quick overview of possible causes and differential diagnoses. Here and there, the individual points seem to be presented in a somewhat unstructured manner, but this is not particularly significant. The quality of the numerous illustrations is generally good to satisfactory. However, subtle findings in particular are not always presented in a way that is fully comprehensible—a drawback that other books also share. To aid understanding, arrows in nearly all illustrations point to the key findings.
Price
The price of €29.90 is quite reasonable and shows that specialized literature doesn’t necessarily have to be extremely expensive.
Conclusion
The “Chest X-Ray Trainer” is primarily intended as a textbook for a systematic introduction to chest imaging; it does not aim to present every conceivable chest finding in its entirety. Rather, it focuses on thoroughly teaching the necessary basics of chest imaging and presenting the most common findings. The book is suitable not only for physicians but also for medical students. The book receives five out of five possible points because both its educational approach and its price are just right.
https://www.thieme.de/viamedici/rezensions-datenbank-1624/a/chest-x-ray-trainer-3938103000-8556.htm