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vi Preface III

comprehensive qualities needed to deal with the com- III REFERENCES
plexity of modern medical imaging.
Once mastered, the use of RDIs and their patterns of Simply put, there are none. In writing this book—and
occurrence not only lends itself to a speedier and more I must admit in all candor that initially I was quite
accurate radiographic diagnosis, but also solidifi es and reluctant to take on the project—I was determined to
improves related cognitive strategies, in particular the see the imagery of exotics through fresh eyes. That is
ability to discriminate between relevant and irrelevant to say that I never had any formal teaching on the
radiographic information. Furthermore, RDIs are like subject, even though I hold a degree in Zoology and
open-source code: they can be regularly modifi ed and many years ago completed a radiology residency.
refined according to user experience and the discovery It has always seemed to me that the exotics were

of new knowledge. little more than an afterthought, especially in what has
now come to be known as Medical Imaging (formerly
Radiology, and later, Radiology and Alternate Imaging).
III ANATOMICAL SPECIMENS AND There are surprisingly few publications that deal
CONTEXTUAL NORMALS expressly with the methodology of radiographic diagno-
sis. Most have a medical or surgical focus, including
Wherever possible, anatomical specimens are included related medical images under the heading of ancillary
to clarify unusual, complex, or confusing anatomy: for diagnostics, much as one might incorporate abnormal
example, the bones of a bird’s shoulder joint compared laboratory values.
with those of a dog or cat. Convenient, timesaving, Although I could have turned to the comparatively
normal comparison radiographs have been included scant contributions of colleagues, my feeling was that
with many individual cases, especially when the major such an effort would constitute little more than a brief
radiographic observation is not pronounced. From and probably lackluster catalogue of information—like
the standpoint of information retention, I have found so many loosely related articles in a folder rather than
this method far more effective than simple lesion a coherent, integrated, and, most importantly, practical
annotation. clinical reference.
Accordingly, I have set out my personal approach
to the radiographic, sometimes sonographic, occasion-
III ORIENTATION AND DETAILED ally computed tomographic diagnosis of the injuries
CLOSE-UP VIEWS and diseases that can afflict birds and exotics, an

approach forged in the fires of more than 3 decades as

Furthermore, concerning retained knowledge: I have an academic radiologist. But make no mistake: this

once again made generous use of orientation images, in is not the final word on the subject, far from it, but
addition to close-ups and ultra-close views. My work for better or worse it is my word. I hope you come to
and that of others have clearly shown that the inclu- value it.
sion of orientation views greatly enhances the under-
standing of close-ups, and this enhanced understanding Charles S. Farrow
leads in turn to improved information retention as well
as recall.

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