Tamimi DF, Hatcher DC. Specialty Imaging: Temporomandibular Joint. 1st ed. Elsevier; 2016; 800 pp; 2000 ill; $299.99
Do not be fooled by the title of this book: Temporomandibular Joint. The book is just under 900 pages in length, so one can immediately suspect that there is far more here than just the TMJ. Without actually counting the pages that directly address the joint itself, a conservative estimate is that there are 100 pages. That leaves 85% of the book for adjacent critical areas of the neck and spine. All this is said so that one can get a feeling for the encompassing nature of the book.
Done in the usual superb and inclusive manner of all of the books in this multi-year series from Amirsys/Elsevier, the two chief editors/authors, Drs. Tamimi and Hatcher, and 43 authors have put together a book which addresses areas we deal with on a nearly daily basis and other areas we less frequently encounter. The book comes (as do virtually all of the books in this series) with a code which allows access to the eBook version.
There are 7 sections: Understanding of the TMJ; Anatomy; Modalities Used for the TMJ Imaging: Diagnoses; Radiographic Differential Diagnosis; Clinical Differential Diagnosis; and Imaging of TMJ Procedures. These section titles belie the fact that there is much in such sections which are apart from the TMJ itself.
Virtually everyone in radiology knows the quality of these books, with their illustrations, graphics, imaging (CT/MR), and bullet points. This particular book is no exception. While some of the material is reproduced from their other publications, the bringing together of this material in anatomic regions adjacent to the TMJs has its advantages. Wide-ranging subjects are covered; for example, in Section 4 (400 pages) entitled Diagnoses, the beginning portion (150 pages) deals with items everyone would recognize as TMJ-related, such as trauma, developmental conditions, degenerative processes, and the like, but shortly goes into many other critical conditions affecting the temporal bone or the spine and paraspinal areas, or masticator space abnormalities. The same divergence away from the TMJ itself is present in other sections, such as under Anatomy where, for example, the subtle details of cranial nerves are displayed.
Of course, there is an emphasis on the TMJ itself, from the anatomic, biomedical, developmental and imaging standpoint. One would have to believe that this book would be critical for all dentistry students, cranial facial surgeons, and head and neck radiologists.
If one’s practice involves substantial TMJ imaging, the sections on anatomy, imaging diagnosis, and pathology of this area are a must. A minor criticism is that the MR images of the normal TMJ are too dark, particularly when one is trying to see soft tissue structures. This problem is partially rectified when demonstrating the findings in disc displacements, but even their lighter images would have displayed the findings to better advantage. The graphics showing the biomechanical issues in TMJ physiology are excellent.
This book offers a substantial review of paranasal sinus disease, many temporal bone abnormalities, pharyngeal/parapharyngeal lesions, and some degenerative spine disease. This book is highly recommended for both an individual purchase and a sectional library purchase.
