Durr-e-Sabih  ( Published by Centre of Nuclear Studies, P. 0. Nilore, PENSTECH, Islamabad;.ISBN 969-8294-00-7;First Edition 1995. )

There are many books on ultrasonography but this discusses the technique of actual ultrasound examinations. Being directed at the novice and beginners, it gives very basic information on how to actually perform ultrasound. After a brief introduction to the basic principles of Ultrasound there is adscription of what appears on the screen when the machine is turned on. This is followed by a brief description of various machine controls. The section on ultrasound techniques describes how to place probes during the examinations and what is seenat eachprobe location. Later each section is dealt with separately; first the normal pattern and then findings in various diseases are discussed. In addition to the adult abdominal ultrasound there are separate sections on Paedialric ultrasound (with special emphasis on Neonatal cranial ultrasound). Obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound, cross-sectional cardiac ultrasound and muscular, thyroid and scrotal ultrasound. The section on eye is surprisingly missing. There is also a chapter on the “reporting styles” and "artefacts and pitfalls” which makes interesting reading. The book is illustrated with over 300 line drawings and 100 actual ultrasound scans. The drawings are generally comprehensible though most are rather amateurish; another recurring problem appears to be the depiction of shaded areas in the art-work which is patchy in many illustrations. Many drawings appear under labelled and although the accompany­ing text and legends usually make the meaning obvious, more effort should have gone in this. The ultrasound images have been generally selected to give clear sections of normal and very obviously abnornml anatomy but some have come out rather dark and should have been better processed during printing. There arc few but not many typographical errors. In spite of some weaknesses pointed out above the book should be of equal use to young doctors interested in learning ultrasound and probably also to those who already practice this technique. It should be a valuable addition on the desk of physicians and in all libraries.

Shahid Kamal
Atomic Energy Medical Centre, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi.