The most frequently requested investigation in any nuclear medicine department remains the technetium-99m (99mTc)-labelled diphosphonate bone scan. Despite rapid advances in all imaging modalities. there has been no serious challenge to the role of bone scanning in the evaluation of the skeleton. The main reason for this is the exquisite sensitivity of the bone scan for lesion detection. combined with clear visualisation of the whole skeleton. In recent years several new diphosphonate agents have become available with claims for superior imaging of the skeleton. Essentially. they all have higher affinity for bone. thus allowing the normal skeleton to be visualised all the more clearly. However. as will be dis cussed. this may occur at some cost to the principal role of bone scanning. lesion detection. The major strength of nuclear medicine is its ability to provide functional and physiological information. With bone scanning this leads to high sensitivity for focal disease if there has been any disturbance of skeletal metabolism. However. in many other clinical situations. and particularly in metabolic bone disease. more generalised alteration in skeletal turnover may occur. and quantitation of diphosphonate uptake by the skeleton can provide valuable clinical information.

The second edition of Dr. Sydney Lou Bonnick’s text Bone Densitometry in Clinical Practice is an expansion of her highly regarded first edition, which has provided the bone densitometry community with simply the best, most accurate, and most precisely written resource in our field. Dr. Bonnick has applied her very careful and exact scientific approaches to expand and improve on her widely regarded initial text. In addition to the chapters in the first edition on the science of bone densitometry and its clinical appli- tion, this text has new chapters and a CD-ROM that come at a very critical time in our field. The clinical use of bone densitometry is increasing exponentially as more professional societies have endorsements and guidelines on the application of bone densitometry in the assessment and management of osteoporosis. The recent endorsement of population screening by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has now provided g- ernmental validation to this technology, whose proper use Dr. Bonnick has pioneered. In a new chapter, Dr. Bonnick compares the similarities and differences in the recent gui- lines from the USPSTF and the National Osteoporosis Foundation, American Assoc- tion of Clinical Endocrinologists, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the North American Menopause Society.

Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD, FACP, and Lori Ann Lewis, MRT, CDT, have updated and expanded their highly praised Bone Densitometry for Technologists to reflect the latest standards and developments in the field. Here radiologic technologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and dedicated densitometry technologists can find new guidelines for bone density testing, new therapies for osteoporosis, and new treatment guidelines for osteoporosis, as well as new chapters on pediatric densitometry, body composition assessments, and the use of skeletal morphometry in diagnosis and fracture risk prediction.

Bone Densitometry in Growing Patients: Guidelines for Clinical Practice, edited by Drs. Sawyer, Bachrach, and Fung, is a milestone book for all health prof- sionals concerned with bone health in growing patients. The book introduces and emphasizes the importance of attending to issues of bone health and development in childhood and adolescence as a way of maintaining such health and decreasing the epidemic of osteoporosis that we are now seeing in older adults. In doing so, the book offers a much-needed first set of standards of bone densitometry in growing patients. Given the numerous reports of serious interpretation errors in densitometry results in children, the development of this body of work is truly important. It is in this context that Bone Densitometry in Growing Patients: Guidelines for Clinical Practice presents the current evidence, including an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in the data on assessing bone density in childhood and adolescence. In short, the editors and authors have done an outstanding job of or- nizing not only the key topics in this broad clinical discussion, but also, and most importantly, the evidence within these areas.

Bone densitometry (BD) is an extraordinary clinical tool. It provides a safe, non-invasive window to the skeleton. Through that window, a physician can obtain vital clinical information that enhances diagnosis and improves patient management. Further, much has changed in the last decade to make bone densitometry the especially fascinating field of medicine it is today, incorporating imaging, physics, quantitative analysis, statistics, and computer technology -- all applied in the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis. No text details the state-of-the-art and value of densitometry better than Bone Densitometry in Clinical Practice: Applications and Interpretation, Third Edition. Written by renowned expert Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD, this edition improves remarkably on her highly regarded previous volumes, with a significant update and expansion of material. New chapters reflect densitometry’s growing applications as well as the evolving needs of the densitometrist. New material on radiation safety and assessment for secondary causes of bone fragility is included, and the text also incorporates material from the recent ISCD Position Development Conferences (PDC’s), both the 4th adult and the 1st pediatric. Moreover, an entire appendix devoted to the PDCs has been added, providing solutions to many unanswered questions concerning bone densitometry applications. Comprehensive and invaluable, Bone Densitometry in Clinical Practice: Application and Interpretation, Third Edition offers all primary care physicians and specialists the ideal reference for practicing state-of-the-art bone densitometry and caring for patients with, or at risk for, osteoporosis.

Over 3,800 exquisite images demonstrate every principle and capture the characteristic presentations of the most frequently encountered disorders. The result is a remarkably thorough, yet focused and pragmatic, source of clinical guidance.The New Edition updates and distills all of the most important content from Dr. Donald Resnick's 5-volume Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders, 4th Edition into a single, concise source. Together with new co-editor Mark J. Kransdorf, MD, Dr. Resnick and 38 other distinguished experts zero in on the specific, state-of-the-art musculoskeletal imaging and interpretation knowledge practitioners need today. - Provides 2,900 outstanding images that depict all important concepts, techniques, and findings. - Represents a highly efficient review source for oral and written radiology examinations, as well as an indispensable reference tool for clinical practice. - Covers hot topics such as spinal interventional procedures • cartilage imaging • disorders of muscle • diagnostic ultrasonography • internal derangement of joints • target-area approach to articular disorders • rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases • crystal-induced diseases • sports injuries • MR arthrography • and much more. - Offers an increased emphasis on MR imaging, an increasingly important and versatile diagnostic modality. - Presents many new illustrations not found in the Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders, 4th Edition 5-volume set.