Monthly Archives: June 2009

Motion Preservation Surgery of the Spine: Advanced Techniques and Controversies. J.J. Yue, R. Bertagnoli, P.C. McAfee, and H.S. An, eds. Saunders Elsevier; 2008, 816 pages, $279.00.

Spinal fusion is the standard treatment for back pain that has failed conservative management. Although often effective, this surgery is not without adverse outcomes, including development of degenerative disk disease at an adjacent level, pseudoarthrosis, facet arthropathy, spondylolysis, and spondylolisthesis. The goal of motion preservation surgery is to closely replicate normal spinal biomechanics, the result of which should, in theory, be the limitation of complications associated with conventional fusion.

The rationale behind motion preservation … Continue reading >>

Operative Techniques in Epilepsy Surgery. G.H. Baltuch and J.-G. Villemure. Thieme; 2009, 216 pages, 7 tables, 138 illustrations, $149.95.

Surgical treatment of epilepsy has been a treatment option for intractable epilepsy for many years. With improvements in anatomic and functional imaging modalities, stereotaxy, and the integration of neuronavigation during surgery, epilepsy surgery has entered a new era of expertise. In this context, the present text provides a very comprehensive review of various epileptic syndromes and aspects of surgical management of patients with intractable epilepsy.

Operative Techniques in Epilepsy Surgery is a unique compilation of chapters discussing various diagnostic and technical … Continue reading >>

Atlas of Interventional Neurology. A.I. Qureshi and A.L. Georgiadis, eds. demosMEDICAL; 2009, 248 pages, $169.00.

As fewer and fewer neuroradiologists become directly in­volved in vascular interventional procedures, familiarity with the many techniques and procedures currently in use is less than in the past. Short of spending time in a high-volume neurointerventional suite (which of course would be ideal), this Atlas of Interventional Neurology can serve as an update of the endovascular procedures used for a variety of diseases.

There are 8 chapters constructed along the same lines: “An­gioplasty and Stent Placement of Extracranial Vessels,” “An­gioplasty and Stent Placement of Intracranial … Continue reading >>

Neuroimaging in Neurology: An Interactive CD. D.C. Preston and B.E. Shapiro, eds. Saunders Elsevier; 2007, $145.00.

Neuroimaging in Neurology: An Interactive CD is a 275-MB CD, designed by Drs Preston and Shapiro (both neurologists) to allow the viewer to interact with more than 600 images, including both normal and abnormal findings on MR imaging and CT of the brain and spine. Included also are images of conventional neuroangiography.

The CD starts with very basic information on pulse sequences and is followed by anatomic depictions. With these, the reader can place an arrow on the words identifying a given structure and … Continue reading >>

Handbook of Cerebrovascular Disease and Neurointerventional Technique. M.R. Harrigan and J.P. Deveikis, eds. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press; 2009, 760 pages, 2 illustrations, $179.00.

In this densely informative pocket-sized Handbook of Cere­brovascular Disease and Neurointerventional Technique, Drs Harrigan and Deveikis compiled a 760-page soft-cover book, which takes the reader through virtually every neurovascular abnormality amenable to interventional therapy and the tech­niques for each. The book is divided into 3 sections: 1) “Fun­damentals,” 2) “Interventional Techniques,” and 3) “Specific Disease States.” Under “Fundamentals” the authors describe and illustrate, with line drawings and angiography, all the per­tinent vascular anatomy. This anatomy is … Continue reading >>

Diagnostic Neuroradiology. V.N. Kornienko and I.N. Pronin. Springer; 2009, 1288 pages, 7040 illustrations, $279.00.

One need go no further than this 1288-page book, Diagnostic Neuroradiology, to realize that high-quality neuroradiology is practiced in major medical centers throughout the world. The authors, Drs Valery Kornienko and Igor Pronin, both from the Neuroimaging Department of the Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute in Moscow, in collaboration with 9 of their colleagues from the same department, have written a heavily and beautifully illustrated (1905 separate figures, many with multiple parts) text. The emphasis here is on showing multiple classic and clinically germane cases while still … Continue reading >>

Tumors of the Spine. D.H. Kim, U.-K. Chang, S.-H. Kim, M.H. Bilsky, eds. Saunders Elsevier; 2008, 728 pages, 600 illustrations, $280.00.

Tumors of the Spine, a multiauthored (22 authors) 728-page hardcover book edited by 4 spine neurosurgeons (Drs Kim, Chang, Kim, and Bilsky), is a densely illustrated and highly readable text, which should have appeal to neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and neuroradiologists alike. As is the increasing trend these days, the book comes with a CD, which contains images shown in the printed text. This feature adds immensely to the value of the textbook. What is curious, though, is that … Continue reading >>