Preface

Despite the increasing role of advanced cross-sectional imaging studies such as CT, MR, and PET for evaluating diseases of the abdomen and pelvis, most radiology practices continue to perform GI and GU fluoroscopic procedures on a daily basis. It therefore is important for radiologists to develop and maintain their skills in GI and GU fluoroscopy in order to provide optimal studies for their patients. In this regard, we recognized the need for a text dedicated to all aspects of performing and interpreting high-quality GI and GU fluoroscopic procedures. Our goal in writing this text was to illuminate the critical role of fluoroscopy in the diagnosis of luminal GI and GU diseases. Rather than provide an encyclopedic review of GI and GU pathology, we instead present the fundamentals and nuances for performing and interpreting all types of GI and GU fluoroscopic procedures.

Two of the authors of this work, Marc Levine and Stephen Rubesin, previously collaborated with Igor Laufer on the last edition of Double Contrast Gastrointestinal Radiology, published in 2000, and the third author, Parvati Ramchandani, collaborated with Howard Pollack on his landmark text, Clinical Urography, also last published in 2000. The three of us have been long-time colleagues and friends in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and were delighted to collaborate on Practical Fluoroscopy of the GI and GU Tracts. It is our hope that this text will fill a major void in the radiology literature.