INTRODUCTION A. Bankier, P.A. Gevenois This Monograph was compiled to give to the clinician, active in pulmonary medicine, a comprehensive review of recent developments in thoracic imaging. The Monograph follows two major paths. On the one hand, the Monograph aims to present to the clinician new trends and controversies in thoracic imaging. Consequently, one part of the Monograph is dedicated to digital radiography, to issues related to radiation dose, to new quantitative and analytical procedures used in thoracic imaging, and to issues related to lung cancer screening. On the other hand, the Monograph aims to present to the clinician state-of-the-art information related to the diagnostic work-up in a clinical context. Therefore, reviews on lung cancer staging, on idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, on collagen vascular disorders, and on the imaging of infectious lung disorders were included. This dual approach should warrant that the Monograph offers helpful information to both pulmonary physicians, rather interested in recent research, and to pulmonary physicians based in daily clinical work. Although the articles of this Monograph were written by radiologists, they are clearly dedicated to pulmonary physicians. Care was taken not to overemphasise technical aspects of thoracic radiology, and a clear focus was put on clinically relevant topics. A high number of high quality radiographical figures are designed to illustrate the aims of respective articles, and contributions dealing with diagnostic algorithms were complemented by comprehensive tables. Finally, each contribution is followed by an extensive list of references that should serve as a guide to further reading. Throughout our clinical and scientific activities, we have had the privilege to work with outstanding colleagues from pulmonary medicine. This collaboration has greatly inspired our own work and has deepened our understanding for the issues of respiratory medicine. In this light, this Monograph also is an acknowledgement of the tremendous input that the respiratory community had on our work. We hope that this Monograph will give some of it back to where it came from. Eur Respir Mon, 2004, 30, b. Printed in UK - all rights reserved. Copyright ERS Journals Ltd 2004 European Respiratory Monograph ISSN 1025-448x. ISBN 1-904097-34-0. b