L.A. Loevner, guest ed. Elsevier; 2008, 240 pages, $99.00.

This issue of the Neuroimaging Clinics of North America edited by Laurie Loevner deals with the thyroid and parathyroid glands, areas with which most neuroradiologists prefer not to be involved. Because the thyroid pops op on every cervical spine study, we should have complete knowledge of the pathology of the thyroid; in addition, we are often asked to evaluate studies for the presence of a parathyroid tumor mass. There are 22 authors of this volume, half of whom are not diagnostic radiologists but treating physicians and surgeons. This speaks to the fact that Dr Loevner has sought to integrate clinical and treatment aspects of thyroid/parathyroid disease with the appropriate imaging.

There are 9 chapters (total 117 pages), 7 of which deal with the thyroid gland (imaging anatomy, sonography of nodules, lymph node evaluation with sonography, surgical approaches, nuclear imaging and treatment, surgery in recurrent thyroid cancer, and thyroid eye disease) and 2 of which deal with the parathyroid gland (imaging and surgery). As one might expect, there is an abundance of sonography in this issue; this is certainly understandable given the ease with which the thyroid and lymph nodes are evaluated with sonography. Sonography is a technique with which most neuroradiologist do not become involved, leaving it to the purview of the sonography experts. In addition, the role of nuclear medicine in these diseases takes much of the imaging away from a neuroradiology section. Nonetheless, despite the realities of sonography and nuclear imaging having a major role in thyroid and parathyroid diseases, the neuroradiologist should be aware of and conversant with the current use of both techniques.

The first chapter, with Dr. Loevner as the senior author, gives a strong overview of thyroid imaging and pathology and contains predominately MR and CT imaging. In the sonography chapter, the sonograms are worth reviewing because benign and malignant masses are depicted. Short paragraphs describe the evolving field of ultrasonic elastography and 3D sonography, describing how both help characterize thyroid masses. In this chapter and the preceding chapter, one can review the types of thyroid nodules.

Surgeons give their viewpoint on “What Radiologists Need to Know” in separate chapters on thyroid and parathyroid surgery and in a chapter on recurrent thyroid cancer. In the latter chapter, the staging of thyroid cancer is defined and discussed. It would have been helpful in both of these chapters for the surgeons to have listed exactly what information they wish to see in a report—–that is, what a structured report would contain.

This volume of the Neuroimaging Clinics of North America may be of some interest and deserves to be in a neuroradiology sectional library.