Central nervous system (CNS) infections continue to pose a serious problem in health care even with improved knowledge and treatment. Despite the introduction of newer antimicrobial agents and diagnostic techniques, the morbidity and mortality associated with CNS infections remain high. The morbidity associated with CNS infections may be even more important than the death rate especially in developing countries as neurological sequelae may deprive the survivors of intellect and physical ability, demeaning the quality of life and burdening health resources and social services. MR imaging is an important integral part of the protocol for the management of CNS infections and MR spectroscopy is increasingly being utilized in its management. This work is an attempt to provide a comprehensive review of imaging and spectroscopy of the commonly encountered CNS infections in the clinical practice in developing and developed countries. The first chapter deals with basic physical principles of MR imaging and spectroscopy that will help beginners to understand the technical terms used in subsequent chapters. The remaining 10 chapters deal with clinical, pathological, MR imaging and spectroscopy features and their applications in CNS infections. This will help in giving a comprehensive understanding to readers with a background in clinical, radiological, basic MRI, and neurological sciences. The T2 hypointense lesions are a real diagnostic dilemma especially in developing countries for which an algorithm has been suggested in the concluding chapter.

This book has grown out of our shared experience in the development of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL), based on the electron-positron storage ring SPEAR at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) starting in Summer, 1973. The immense potential of the photon beam from SPEAR became obvious as soon as experiments using the beam started to run in May, 1974. The rapid growth of interest in using the beam since that time and the growth of other facilities using high-energy storage rings (see Chapters 1 and 3) demonstrates how the users of this source of radiation are finding applications in an increasingly wide variety of fields of science and technology. In assembling the list of authors for this book, we have tried to cover as many of the applications of synchrotron radiation, both realized already or in the process of realization, as we can. Inevitably, there are omissions both through lack of space and because many projects are at an early stage. We thank the authors for their efforts and cooperation in producing what we believe is the most comprehensive treatment of synchrotron radiation research to date.

As an addition to the European postgraduate training system for young neurosurgeons we began to publish in 1974 this series of Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery which was later sponsored by the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. This series was first discussed in 1972 at a combined meeting of the Italian and German Neurosurgical Societies in Taormina, the founding fathers of the series being Jean Brihaye, Bernard Pertuiset, Fritz Loew and Hugo Krayenbiihl. Thus were established the principles of European co operation which have been born from the European spirit, flourished in the European Association, and have throughout been associated with this series. The fact that the English language is well on the way to becoming the international medium at European scientific conferences is a great asset in terms of mutual understanding. Therefore we have decided to publish all contributions in English, regardless of the native language of the authors. All contributions are submitted to the entire editorial board before publi cation of any volume. Our series is not intended to compete with the publications of original scientific papers in other neurosurgical journals. Our intention is, rather, to present fields of neurosurgery and related areas in which important recent advances have been made. The contributions are written by specialists in the given fields and constitute the first part of each volume.

Distance measurements in biological systems by EPR The foundation for understanding function and dynamics of biological systems is knowledge of their structure. Many experimental methodologies are used for determination of structure, each with special utility. Volumes in this series on Biological Magnetic Resonance emphasize the methods that involve magnetic resonance. This volume seeks to provide a critical evaluation of EPR methods for determining the distances between two unpaired electrons. The editors invited the authors to make this a very practical book, with specific numerical examples of how experimental data is worked up to produce a distance estimate, and realistic assessments of uncertainties and of the range of applicability, along with examples of the power of the technique to answer biological problems. The first chapter is an overview, by two of the editors, of EPR methods to determine distances, with a focus on the range of applicability. The next chapter, also by the Batons, reviews what is known about electron spin relaxation times that are needed in estimating distances between spins or in selecting appropriate temperatures for particular experiments. Albert Beth and Eric Hustedt describe the information about spin-spin interaction that one can obtain by simulating CW EPR line shapes of nitroxyl radicals. The information in fluid solution CW EPR spectra of dual-spin labeled proteins is illustrated by Hassane Mchaourab and Eduardo Perozo.

Rheumatic inflammatory diseases represent a steadily increasing group of disorders that have considerable social impact through affected patients' worsening quality of life and require engagement in the health field. Among these, rheumatoid arthritis stands as the most frequent pathology, and the hand is the most typical affected area. The incidence of rheumatic arthritis, as indicated by recent epidemiological studies, is bound to undergo a further significant increase in the future. There is, therefore, a need for careful diagnosis of the disease, based on clinical criteria designed by the American College of Rheumatology and Diagnostic Imaging. The latter provides an objective assessment of the extent and severity of joint involvement.
Rheumatoid Hand includes 25 tables of clinical and radiological cases. The text analyses the capability of diagnostic imaging (conventional radiology, ultrasonography and magnetic resonance) to identify the early stages and the activity of disease, allowing the rheumatologist to decide on an effective therapeutic plan.

All diseases involving the lung are presented in alphabetical order. Each is discussed in the same way under the subheadings of definition, epidemiology, pathophysio- logy, clinical prognosis, radiology, gross and micro patho- logy, histomorphological descriptors, special stains, hall- mark of diagnosis and differential diagnosis.
"An encyclopedic collection of terms dealing with diseases and/or pathological conditions of the respiratory organs with the aim to give the reader rapid information about the essential aspects. This encyclopedic source can be recommended not only to pathologists but also to clinicians and practitioners faced with pulmonary diseases." (Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology)

Liver surgery has made extraordinary progress over the past 40 years, evolving from the first, timid partial resections in the 1950s to today's major resections and organ transplants. Examining the rea- sons for this progress, one cannot but be impressed by the substan- tial role that has been played by radiology. Formerly, preoperative planning was based on only nebulous scintigraphic scans. Today, surgeons have at their disposal a wide variety of radiological modalities for diagnosis and topography which are precise enough to exclude most operative surprises. Fur- thermore, the radiologist is becoming increasingly involved in ther- apy: prior to operation for tumor reduction by embolization and after resection for treatment of local complications - which could otherwise necessitate difficult and occasionally dangerous reoper- ations. As the author writes in his preface, it is not really astonishing that a radiologist is publishing a book on this topic, and he must be congratulated for his work-up, which combines important personal experience with a complete analysis of published papers on this topic.

The twentieth century was the century of the development of morphological cerebral imaging by tomodensitometry (TDM) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). In recent years new brain imaging methods were used in adults with neurological lesions, and more recently in adults with psychiatric disorders. Now it is also possible to use, most of these morphological and functional brain imaging methods in children.
This book presents the main morphological and functional brain imaging methods that we can use in the child. Two main applications are developped: physiopathological and therapeutical interest. The physiopathological approach is of a great interest, coupled with clinical evaluation in psychomotor disorders like hyperkinetic or Tourette syndrom, and in developmental disorders like autistic syndrom, mental retardation, Rett Syndrom ...

The second volume of Frontiers in European Radiology covers two very promising techniques in diagnostic radiology, namely digital radiography and nuclear mag netic resonance imaging. Leading experts in both fields from Europe and the Unit ed States were invited to give a critical overview; digital fluoroscopy is reported on mainly by American scientists since this technique has been developed primarily in the United States, while the results of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging are pre sented by British groups currently at the forefront of research in this field. The pa pers reflect the state of the art at mid-1981, when the contributors gathered for the yearly symposium on Current Topics in Diagnostic Radiology in Berne, Switzer land. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, also known as spin imaging or zeugmato graphy, has produced striking progress within the past few years - even within the past few months - as described in three papers of this volume. The images generally reflect the distribution of mobile protons contained within water and fats, and pro vide remarkable discrimination between different tissues. Malignant tissue might be identified with this technique, and a wide range of disorders associated with water concentration, diffusion, and flow would be amenable to study; the measurement of blood flow could be particularly interesting."

The objective of this Brief is to provide a solution to the unsolved technical problem in segmentation for the automated bone age assessment system. The task is accomplished by first applying the modified histogram equalized module, then applying the proposed automated anisotropic diffusion technique. It is followed by a novel fuzzy quadruple division scheme to optimize the central segmentation algorithm, and then an additional quality assurance scheme. The designed segmentation framework works without demanding scarce resources such as training sets and skillful operators. The results have shown that the designed framework is capable of separating the soft-tissue and background from the hand bone with high accuracy. This Brief should be especially useful for students and professional researchers in the Biomedical and image processing fields.

Liver-Directed Therapy for Primary and Metastatic Liver Tumors is a comprehensive examination of tumors of the liver. It provides a unique multi-modality approach to management of all types of primary and secondary liver tumors. The biology of liver cancers, state of the art radiologic imaging and novel, non-surgical interventional strategies are given. There is an in depth analysis of surgical options including transplantation, resection, interstitial ablation techniques and liver-directed chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma, bile duct cancers, and colorectal and neuroendocrine liver metastases. Because of the unique and comprehensive examination of liver tumors, this work is an excellent resource for surgical, transplant and medical oncologists, surgeons, gastroenterologists, and radiologists.

This timely publication fills a large gap in the ophthalmic literature which has so far lacked a monograph on the clinically very important subject of macular edema. The book presents the most up-to-date scientific concepts concerning the etiology and pathogenesis of blood retinal barrier breakdown such as tight junction associated protein dysfunction, and changes in fluid transport properties of the retinal pigment epithelium. The bulk of the book is clinically oriented and addresses novel imaging and diagnostic techniques for the detection of macular edema as well as the clinical context of a panoply of ocular diseases which induce macular edema, such as diabetes, other vasculopathies, uveitis, and many others. New light is shed on the association between highly active antiretroviral therapy and the induction of macular edema in HIV-positive patients. Novel drug treatment regimens with steroids and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors as well as new ways of applying laser and surgical therapies are also discussed in detail, and practical treatment guidelines are given. This book will be helpful for vitreoretinal specialists as well as for the practising ophthalmologist confronted with patients suffering from macular edema.

There have been remarkable achievements in CT technology, workflow management and applications in the last couple of years. The introduction of 4- and 16-row multidetector technology has substantially increased acquisition speed and provides nearly isotropic resolution. These new technical possibilities had significant impact on the clinical use of CT and have yielded a broadening of the spectrum of applications, particularly in vascular, cardiac, abdominal, and trauma imaging.

This book presents the practical experience of an international expert group of radiologists and physicists with state-of-the-art multidetector-technology. The chapters in this book will facilitate a thorough understanding of 4- and 16-slice multidetector-row CT and its clinical applications. This will help to fully exploit the diagnostic potential of this technology.

In recent years there have been major advances in the fields of cardiovascular nuclear medicine and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. In nuclear cardiology more adequate tomographic systems have been designed for routine cardiac use, as well as new or improved quantitative analytic software packages both for planar and tomographic studies implemented on modern state-of-the-art workstations. In addition, artificial intelligence techniques are being applied to these images in attempts to interpret the nuclear studies in a more objective and reproducible manner. Various new radiotracers have been developed, such as antimyosin, labeled isonitriles, metabolic compounds, etc. Furthermore, alternative stress testing with dipyridamole and dobutamine has received much attention in clinical cardiac practice. Magnetic resonance imaging is a relative newcomer in cardiology and has already shown its merits, not only for anatomical information but increasingly for the functional aspects of cardiac performance. This book covers almost every aspect of quantitative cardiovascular nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging. It will assist the nuclear medicine physician, the radiologist, the physicist/image processing specialist and the clinical cardiologist in understanding the nuclear medicine techniques used in cardiovascular medicine, and in increasing our knowledge of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Diagnostic errors are important in all branches of medicine because they are an indication of poor patient care. As the number of malpractice cases continues to grow, radiologists will become increasingly involved in litigation. The aetiology of radiological error is multi-factorial. This book focuses on (1) some medico-legal aspects inherent to radiology (radiation exposure related to imaging procedures and malpractice issues related to contrast media administration are discussed in detail) and on (2) the spectrum of diagnostic errors in radiology. Communication issues between the radiologists and physicians and between the radiologists and patients are also presented. Every radiologist should understand the sources of error in diagnostic radiology as well as the elements of negligence that form the basis of malpractice litigation.

Rapid developments of new investigative techniques and diagnostic modalities such as CT and MRI have revolutionized modern diagnostic imaging. Dr. Sperber and her contributors expertly facilitate understanding of the fundamentals of pulmonary disorders and promote a realistic and appropriate use of the exciting new diagnostic modalities. Methodologies of choosing techniques are also discussed. The first section of the book reviews the applications of the various radiographic modalities. The second part is organized by disease - emphasizing the radiographic manifestations and indicating appropriate imaging techniques most useful for diagnosis.

Both the investigation and treatment of cancer of the oesophagus are comprehensively presented in Management of Oesophageal Carcinoma. This information is otherwise not easily available in one source. The chapters are written by experts in the fields of anatomy, cancer research, radiology, and thoracic surgery and give up-to-date information on this difficult disease. All aspects are covered: anatomy, epidemiology, endoscopic and radiologic diagnosis, pathology, surgical treatment, radiotherapy, palliative and laser therapy, and the management of complications. Surgeons will be especially interested in the discussion of the recent technique of oesophagectomy without formal thoracotomy, and the use of stapling devices. This complete reference is ideal for all clinics and medical centers specializing in thoracic surgery or treatment of oesophageal carcinoma.

Once again, the proceedings of the Badgastein Symposium, this one being the 22nd in an uninterrupted series, offer a comprehensive record of the scientific events. Highlights at this meeting were certainly reports ofthe exciting new developments ofpositron imaging with Anger cameras, both with conventional high-energy collimators and with coincidence techniques. Preliminary c1inical results are promising and seem to offer a true alternative to sophisticated PET -technology with its for many laboratories prohibitive costs. The general nature ofthe symposium is documented by the large range oftopics covered so that all major topics of interest in both the basic sciences of nuc1ear medicine and c1inical ap plication are found. In accordance with the general trends in nuc1ear medicine, there has been a substantial increase in oncological work compared to the more traditional topics. This is also reflected in the Badgastein lecture, given by Professor P. Rigo, who presented an excellent survey ofnuc1ear oncology."

Synchrotron radiation has important applications in medical imaging, especially in such areas as intravenous coronary angiography, mammography, bronchography, and monochromatic computed tomography. In medicine, phase contrast imaging is a particularly exciting development, with the potential to become a new X-ray eye in the 21st century. To discuss these and related topics, medical doctors met with physicists and other researchers in Haga, Japan, in August 1997. This volume contains the proceedings of the International Workshop on Medical Applications of Synchrotron Radiation (HAGA 97), where practitioners from the world of medicine could communicate directly with researchers from the world of physics to discuss practical and theoretical aspects of medical imaging with synchrotron radiation. This volume, presenting the outcome of the discussions and presentations in the workshop, is a valuable resource to all who are interested in medical imaging and physics.

In the developed world, images of brain structure are available as an everyday diagnostic aid, and the characteristic appearances of most pathological conditions can be looked up in a textbook. Functional brain imaging is to this day less widely used, partly because most pressing diagnostic questions can be answered by refer ence to the patient's cerebral anatomy, partly for reasons of technical limitations of functional techniques. PET as a technique is sufficiently resource-demanding and complex to inhibit its use as an everyday diagnostic technique. SPECT lacked suitable tracers for many years, and early systems had poor spatial resolution. However, rotating gamma camera technology has advanced to the point where images of the brain of reasonable quality can be obtained at most large hospitals, and practical tracers, particularly of regional cerebral blood flow, are easily avail able. As research advances, clinical applications are emerging. A recent report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology details a number of currently recognised clinical appli cations, some of which are dealt with in this book. Given this recognition, it is increasingly important that clinicians (particularly neuroclinicians, psychiatrists and specialists in cerebrovascular disease), nuclear medicine specialists and physicists acquire an idea of the major applications of the technique, and the research background on which these applications are based."

The investigation of the brain by means of ultrasound has acquired increasing importance in the last years because it permits insight into the spatial relationships within the intact human skull in a short time without endangering the patient. The road from the first ultra sonic investigations on the exposed brain to the detection of intracranial midline shifts on the intact skull, the registration of echo pulsations and recently, to ultrasonotomography has been a long one already. However, this development is by no means at an end. Following the suggestion of numerous colleagues concerned with echo-encephalography in this country and abroad, the Neurosurgical Clinic of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg organized an "International Symposium on Echo-Encephalography" on April 14th and 15th, 1967. Here there was an open exchange of experience on the results obtained up to the present. The limitations of the method and sources of error as well as the directions of future development of the ultrasonic echo procedure were discussed."

The contemporary management of patients with cancers of the head and neck is under careful scrutiny and major changes are being introduced in order to improve the potenti al not only for long-term control but also for less in the way of disfiguring and distres sing complications associated with the treatment programs. In 1988, the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 42400 new cases of malignant tumors of the head and neck diagnosed with 12 850 deaths. In general, the prognosis for patients with malignant tumors of the head and neck re gion depends upon the site of origin, the local and regional extent of the tumor, the Kar nofsky status of the patient as well as the patient's general medical condition. The poten tial for cure for early stage tumors is extremely high particularly for those lesions involving the vocal cord, oral cavity, and the anterior two-thirds of the tongue. Major advances have been made in the management of head and neck cancer by the innovative utilization of surgery with radiation therapy. Small tumors can be cured by ei ther surgery or radiation therapy with equally good results. However, far advanced tu mors are more complicated and more difficult to cure requiring combined, integrated, multimodal programs of management. Therefore, the previously general poor prognosis for advanced tumors is becoming better with more aggressive treatment regimens."

This revised and updated second edition - now with two new chapters - is the only book to give a comprehensive overview of computer algorithms for image reconstruction. It covers the fundamentals of computerized tomography, including all the computational and mathematical procedures underlying data collection, image reconstruction and image display. Among the new topics covered are: spiral CT, fully 3D positron emission tomography, the linogram mode of backprojection, and state of the art 3D imaging results. It also includes two new chapters on comparative statistical evaluation of the 2D reconstruction algorithms and alternative approaches to image reconstruction.