RadCases: Neuro Imaging

When I picked up RadCases: Neuro Imaging, my first thought was, “Wow, this really ought to be a smartphone/tablet app.” Don’t get me wrong: It’s not that the material is poorly presented as a book. It’s just that the organizational scheme is simple, straightforward, and so app-like that the reader feels like swiping, pinching, and tapping their way through it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an electronic version of the book anywhere, except for the material on the publisher’s website. The book contains 100 neuroradiology cases and is basically laid out as a bound set of giant flash cards, in which each case is described in two pages (or one sheet of paper). The odd-numbered pages contain a very brief description of the clinical presentation (e.g., “A 30-year-old man with a history of headaches”) along with three to four slices from MRI and/or CT scans pre-selected to allow the reader to develop a diagnosis. Once the reader formulates a diagnosis, he can refer to the even-numbered side of the page, which has several sections explaining the case in greater detail. The slices shown on the previous page are re-presented in a smaller size, with annotations on each image that describe points of interest for diagnosis. The book then presents three differential diagnoses for each case (the correct one, plus two alternatives) and a short paragraph summarizing the properties of each condition. There’s also a section of “essential facts” (a list of several bullet points about the correct diagnosis) and sometimes a section of “other imaging findings” that may occur with the diagnosed condition. The text also provides a few “pearls and pitfalls” to be wary of when making a diagnosis. This basic format is repeated to ultimately describe 100 cases. As the authors admit, the text is hardly exhaustive, but the cases included are intended to be as comprehensive as possible. Plus, a subscription code inside gets you access to a Flash-based version of the book on the publisher’s website with an additional 150 additional cases. The online organization is a little odd and the information is definitely laid out better in the book, but the Flash site is usable enough. Unfortunately, buying the book only gets the reader access for a year, after which he is expected to pay $29.97 to renew his subscription to the online cases for another year. Obviously, Neuro Imaging isn’t a casual read or even a textbook. The bullet points on each case are helpful, but the text presumes that the readers are getting the bulk of their knowledge elsewhere and need only a few succinct reminders of the key elements of each diagnosis. The images are well-selected and are of high quality, so individuals who are brushing up for their radiology boards may well find this a helpful study aid. If you’re not preparing for these boards, you’re probably not in the book’s target demographic.