Spina Bifida—Management and Outcome

M.M. Ozek, G. Cinalli, and W.J. Maixner, eds. Springer; 2008, 534 pages, 250 illustrations, $289.00.

This book, edited by M. Memet Ozek, Giuseppe Cinalli, and Wirginia J. Maixner with 67 contributing authors, represents a multidisciplinary approach to spina bifida. For those radiologists dealing with significant imaging volumes of pediatric spinal cases, the information contained in this 534-page text will be of great interest. The book is well designed and features a great deal of imaging in many chapters, in addition to the chapter by Charles Raybaud on the evaluation of myelomeningocele-Chiari II malformation.

What is particularly pleasing about this book is that it first takes the reader through the history of treatments of spina bifida, the embryology of the disorder, and then through the pathologic anatomy of spina bifida. There are excellent histopathologic and gross anatomic specimens and easy-to-understand line drawings. Anyone interested in the underpinnings of this diverse disease will find these chapters of particular interest. After these initial chapters, subsequent sections of the book entail diagnosis, treatment, and patient management including operative considerations and orthopedic, urologic, and psychosocial difficulties. The last section discusses occult spinal dysraphism, including chapters on anterior and lateral meningoceles, spinal lipomas, neurenteric cysts, diastematomyelia, and spinal dermal sinuses. Obviously, all of the entities in this book depend heavily on imaging, so nearly all chapters are laced with appropriate imaging of good or reasonable quality.

The imaging per se is not what makes this book of potential value to the neuroradiologist because similar images have appeared in multiple textbooks. Rather, the complementary information and illustrations make the chapters worthwhile, such as imaging taken during endoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus in spina bifida, intraoperative photographs of fetal neurosurgery, the immediate postdelivery appearance of neonates and their neurosurgical assessment, the pathophysiologic process of the associated hydrocephalus, all aspects of surgical management including Chiari II malformation and syringohydromyelia, the tethered cord syndrome, treatment of vertebral deformities and scoliosis, and treatment and surgical considerations in occult spinal bifida.

For those wanting a well-rounded (ie, not just imaging) understanding of spina bifida, this book deserves consideration, either for one's personal library or for a departmental library.

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