This book contains 50 individual gastrointestinal cases that are presented in a systematic style, starting from patient presentation through to final diagnosis. They are illustrated with relevant radiological images and finished with a clinical ‘pearl’, the idea being, presumably, that the readers can use these to both test themselves prior to exams and as a more palatable method of learning for everyday practice.
This type of book is ideal when preparing for viva or objective structured clinical examination style exams as it follows a similar format. However, as stated clearly by the authors, it is not a reference book or textbook and is therefore unlikely to be of value beyond this.
The cases are relevant and detailed, and some of the accompanying images are good. Nevertheless, many are unclear and single images are not always adequate to come to the same conclusion as the authors. Putting arrows on the images is also unhelpful if you are trying to test yourself. Likewise, the presentation of answers immediately adjacent to the question undermines the value of this book as a revision aid as it is difficult not to look at them. The majority of similar texts present the answers on a different page – for a good reason!
Having been written by practitioners in the US, the terminology is specific to the US and is not explained adequately at any point in the book. For example, CHEM-7 is unhelpfully defined in the glossary as ‘Chemistry 7’.
In summary, the format and presentation are good but there are several flaws and the radiological element is neither detailed enough for a radiology trainee nor clear enough for a gastroenterology/surgical trainee.