The brilliant yet simple idea of introducing a catheter percutaneously into an artery, without first dissecting it free, using a flexible guide wire, has led to a truly revolutionary breakthrough in abdominal x-ray diag nosis (SELDINGER, 1953). In the meantime, methods and techniques for injecting contrast media into various vessels have become largely standardized; innumerable publications have appeared which deal with every conceivable aspect of angiographic technique and interpretation. This volume is designed to present our experience with abdominal angiography. We deliberately refrained from any systematic discussion of the genitourinary tract, which has been adequately dealt with in the literature, also with respect to angiographic findings. Our interest in the retroperitoneal region is based mainly on its significance in differential diagnosis. In ten years of angiographic activity, our Department had made successful use of a simple technique which appears suitable also for smaller hospitals. We wish to point out its diagnostic potential and, at the same time, to outline its limitations. Our experience embraces 2804 abdominal angiograms, which we have classified according to clinical and morphologic anatomical criteria. Their diagnostic interpretation has been compared with the surgical or histopathological results. This may help others to avoid errors of the type which we discovered in our own work. Angiographic diagnosis requires not only familiarity with normal radiographic anatomy, but also specific knowledge of angiographic patho morphology. We have tried to identify those features which typify the individual findings and to derive therefrom valid generalizations with the aid of simple sketches.

For doctors and students who wish to learn ultrasonography concisely yet comprehensively. The authors present the subject both systematically and practically, and with the facility of quick reference in mind, making generous use of flow-charts, tables and teaching-points. All general aspects of diagnostic ultrasound are covered, concentrating on those disorders encountered in the daily routine of scanning, but also referring to rarer conditions which need to be considered in differential diagnosis.

Die Ultraschalldiagnostik hat sich in den vergangenen lahren so stark entwickelt und ausgebreitet, daB selbst die Erwartungen von Optimisten ubertroffen wurden. Gleich- zeitig ist eine zunehmende geratetechnische und organbe- zogene Spezialisierung in den verschiedenen Fachberei- chen zu beobachten. So haben sich fur die B-Bild Diagno- stik neben dem Bauchraum zusatzliche Anwendungsge- biete erOffnet wie z. B. die Schilddriise, die Halsschlag- adem, die weibliche Brust, das Gehim des Sauglings, die Sauglingshiifte und nicht zuletzt das Herz. 1m Rahmen dieser Entwicklung sind verschiedene Lehrbucher und At- lanten der Echographie erschienen, in denen das klinische Erfahrungswissen seinen Niederschlag findet. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, welche Auf- gabe einer neuen Fachbuchreihe fUr Ultraschalldiagnostik zukommt. Die Herausgeber haben sich zum Ziel gesetzt, einen Beitrag zur besseren Ausbildung und Fortbildung zu leisten und der Spezialisierung der echographischen Dia- gnostik gerecht zu werden. Die verschiedenen Teilgebiete sollen daher ubersichtlich und verstandlich von Fachleu- ten in komprimierter Weise dargesteUt werden. Diese Rei- he wird somit ein nach den Bedurfnissen der angewandten echographischen Diagnostik wachsendes Werk sein. Fur den Ultraschallanwender ist von Vorteil, daB er mit einzel- nen Banden direkt in seinem Spezialgebiet angesprochen wird.