Emergency Radiology: The RequisitesJorge A. Soto and Brian C. LuceyPhiladelphia, Mosby, 2009, $102.00, hardcover, 397 pp.

Emergency Radiology: The Requisites by Soto and Lucey isa new addition to the popular Requisites series. The au-thors are from Boston University and are trained in bodyimaging. The majority of the chapters are written by thestaff at Boston University and surrounding hospitals inBoston who are specialists in the field. The book is di-rected toward general radiology and emergency medi-cine residents. The length and depth of the book is suchthat it can be read in a few days while on a clinicalrotation.

There are individual chapters divided by organ sys-tems for trauma and nontrauma categories, as well asdedicated vascular and nuclear medicine chapters. Theorder of the chapters does not always follow a logicalsequence. However, this lack of a logical order to thechapters is not a large issue, as the chapters do not needto be linked and can be read independently. The writingis concise, with a concentration on topics that are mostcommon to the emergency room.

The book is most beneficial for first-year residentslearning to interpret radiographs in a systematic fashion.For example, the extremity trauma section reviews basicfracture terminology and descriptions. The chapter de-scribes each of the extremity bones in a bullet format thatincludes the standard views, frequent sites of injuries,frequently missed injuries, relevant normal anatomy, andnormal variants that might mimic a fracture. However,

B.K.H. serves on the Resident Advisory Board Program for Elsevier.

© SIR, 2010

DOI: 10.1016/j.jvir.2009.10.008

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because of the size limitation of the book, radiographicimages for each of the bullet points are not included.

In comparison to one of the major emergency radiol-ogy books, Radiology of Emergency Medicine by Harris andHarris, The Requisites is more concise, approximately halfthe length, and more current. The tradeoff is that thetextbook by Harris and Harris provides more in-depthdiscussions and includes a broader range of topics andimages. The price and brevity of The Requisites makes itmore likely to be bought by a resident in training andactually read during a clinical rotation. The Requisites isan engaging text with good descriptions, tables, and di-agrams. Unfortunately, the paper and appearance of theimages in the book have suboptimal contrast and are oflower quality than in other books in the Requisites series.

This is the book to buy for beginning radiology resi-dents who are getting ready to take in-hospital call. It isa good review for senior residents as it contains a com-pilation of cases likely to seen in an emergency depart-ment setting or shown during an oral examination. Al-though the paper and printing are below standard, theprice of $102.00 places it within reach of a resident’sbudget. For the interventionalist, Emergency Radiologycould serve as a review for individuals who are involvedwith general emergency department call. There is someinformation on cases an interventionalist might see oncall, like gastrointestinal bleeding and vascular trauma;however, the discussion of treatment options is onlycursory, and a dedicated interventional reference wouldbe preferred.

—reviewed by Benjamin K. Hom, MD