I am proud that this study of the hand appears in the series Exercises in Radiological Diagnosis founded by A. WACKEN HEIM. From time eternal, man has tried to explain the numerous configurations and lines of the hand in order to reveal the true character of a person and to display his life. The importance of the symbolism of the hand is reflected in its role in the cultural life of the old world. Therefore, it is not astanishing that the first book about the hand, by Johannes Hartlieb, was devoted to Chiromancy, and that it was so successful that it went through four editions since the second half of the fifteenth century. When Wilhelm Rontgen in 1895 asked his wife to lay her hand on a photographic plate covered with black paper and exposed it to the radiation he had just discovered, it marked the beginning of radiology. Today the study of the hand concerns only 2%-4% of the activity of radiology. It nevertheless reveals an amazing quantity and variety of pathology. That is the reason for this work. - The authors wishes to thank his friends Y. DIRHEIMER, rheumatolog1st, J. C. DoscH, traumatologist, and G. Fou CHER, surgeon, who provided some of the material for the illustrations. P. BouRJAT VII Contents Part One: Iconography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Part Two: Commentary with Corresponding Schemata 117 Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 . . ."

It was with great pleasure that I accepted Professor Wackenheim's invitation to write the preface of this most interesting monograph. During the international course on neuroradiology in Obernai, organized by Professor Wackenheim in 1978, an entire day was devoted to discussions about various aspects of stenosis of the lumbar vertebral canal. As Professor Wackenheim and his group, in particular Dr. E. Babin, had thorough. ly studied this field, it was an excellent occasion for the exchange of views through personal contact. Their support of basic views such as attributing the cause of stenosis to a developmental disturbance of growth of the neural element - the vertebral arc- and spontaneous agreement about essentials in classification and nomenclature facili tated this exchange. Reading the present monograph made me think back to 1949 when I wrote my first publication on stenosis of the lumbar vertebral canal in a French volume that com memorated my teacher in neurosurgery, Professor Clovis Vincent. During the following years it was impossible to publish a more detailed paper on the subject in international journals since their editorial boards did not believe in its occurrence. My first English papers were published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (1954, 1955), but it was only during the 1970s that this form of stenosis became more universally recog nized."

Die Radiologie der Hand wird die von A. WACKENHEIM herausgegebene Reihe Radiodiagnostische UEbungen fort- setzen. Schon immer versuchten die Menschen, die verschiedenen Formen und Linien der Hand zu deuten, um den Charakter eines Menschen und seinen Lebenslauf zu erkennen. Der Symbolismus der Hand spielte eine wichtige Rolle im Kultur- leben der Alten Welt. Daher ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass sich das erste Buch uber die Hand von Johannes Hartlieb mit der Chiromancie befasste und dass es seit der zweiten Halfte des 15. Jahrhunderts bereits in vier Auflagen vorlag. Als 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen die Hand seiner Frau auf eine photographische, mit schwarzem Papier umhullte Platte legte und anschliessend in die neuentdeckte Strahlung hielt, war die Radiologie geboren. Nur 2 bis 4% aller radiologischen Unter- suchungen entfallen heute auf die Hand. Dieser Band soll dem Leser zeigen, wie uberraschend vielfaltig und verschieden die Pathologie der Hand ist. Besonderen Dank moechte ich meinen Freunden Y. DIR- HEIMER (Rheumatologe), J. C. DOSCH (Traumatologe) und G. FOUCHER (Handchirurg) fur das freundlicherweise zur Verfugung gestellte Bildmaterial aussprechen. P. BOURJAT VII Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 1. Teil: Roentgenbilder. . . 117 2. Teil: Text und Schemata 203 Sachverzeichnis . . . . . .