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BOOK REVIEW
Gerda van Wezel-Meijler: Neonatal cranial ultrasonographySpringer, 2007. 168 pages, ISBN 978-3-540-69906-4, £30.50
Sandra Butler
Received: 24 June 2008 /Accepted: 8 August 2008 / Published online: 13 September 2008# Springer-Verlag 2008
This book, as stated in the introduction, is “a practical guideto neonatal cranial ultrasonography”. It presents guidelinesfor the standard neonatal cranial ultrasound procedure andprovides an atlas of normal cranial ultrasound anatomy. Thepublication is pocket-sized and contains 121 good-qualityfigures within its 167 pages. The chapters are short andeasy to read.
The book is divided into two sections and the first partdeals with the cranial ultrasound procedure. It providesessential information on how to obtain a good-quality scanusing the anterior fontanelle as an acoustic window andwhich standard images should be obtained in the coronaland sagittal planes. The use of supplemental acousticwindows is discussed with excellent descriptions on howto achieve satisfactory images using the other fontanellesand the temporal window. A comprehensive chapter onbrain maturation is provided with good ultrasound exam-ples and, where appropriate, magnetic resonance images(MRI). A well-structured approach to assessing cranialultrasound images is presented, so that pathology can bedetected. The limitations of cranial ultrasound are discussedand the role of MRI as a complementary tool is touchedupon. Useful summary tables are given in some chapters toemphasise important points.
The second section of the book is dedicated to thenormal anatomy of the neonatal brain as demonstrated oncranial ultrasound, with particular emphasis on the anatom-ical structures identified in the standard coronal and sagittalplanes. Normal brain anatomy as seen through thesupplemental acoustic windows is also shown beautifully.The reproduced images are of excellent quality and they arecomprehensively annotated. There are helpful figuresillustrating the plane of scan for each ultrasound image.
In essence, the book focuses on the normal ultrasoundappearance of the neonatal brain and how to obtain good-quality images. There is a chapter dedicated to scoringsystems for peri- and intra-ventricular haemorrhage andperi-ventricular leukomalacia in the first section. Theauthor, however, states in the introduction that a review ofneonatal brain abnormalities is beyond the scope of thebook. Recommendations are provided for further readingon this and other subjects such as colour Doppler imaging,which is briefly mentioned.
The author has successfully produced an essentialpractical guide to neonatal cranial ultrasound. I anticipatethat this compact, easy-to-read, well-illustrated book willbecome popular with radiology, neonatology and sonog-raphy trainees alike. I would recommend it to anyonewho is learning the technique of neonatal cranialultrasonography.
Conflict of interest statement I declare that I have no conflict ofinterest.
Neuroradiology (2008) 50:987DOI 10.1007/s00234-008-0448-9
S. Butler (*)Department of Diagnostic Imaging,Royal Hospital for Sick Children,Dalnair Street, Yorkhill,Glasgow G3 8SJ, UKe-mail: [email protected]
