Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Publication Preview--Ahead of Print
    • Past Issue Archive
    • Case of the Week Archive
    • Classic Case Archive
    • Case of the Month Archive
    • COVID-19 Content and Resources
  • For Authors
  • About Us
    • About AJNR
    • Editors
    • American Society of Neuroradiology
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Podcasts
    • Subscribe on iTunes
    • Subscribe on Stitcher
  • More
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
    • Advertisers
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
  • Other Publications
    • ajnr

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
American Journal of Neuroradiology
American Journal of Neuroradiology

American Journal of Neuroradiology

  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Publication Preview--Ahead of Print
    • Past Issue Archive
    • Case of the Week Archive
    • Classic Case Archive
    • Case of the Month Archive
    • COVID-19 Content and Resources
  • For Authors
  • About Us
    • About AJNR
    • Editors
    • American Society of Neuroradiology
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Podcasts
    • Subscribe on iTunes
    • Subscribe on Stitcher
  • More
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
    • Advertisers
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
  • Follow AJNR on Twitter
  • Visit AJNR on Facebook
  • Follow AJNR on Instagram
  • Join AJNR on LinkedIn
  • RSS Feeds
Book ReviewBook Review

Surgery of Spinal Tumors

American Journal of Neuroradiology August 2009, 30 (7) e101; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A1598
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

J. Klekamp and M. Samii, eds. Springer; 2007, 526 pages, 1862 illustrations, $389.00.

Neuroradiologists infrequently observe the intraoperative findings of patients whose imaging studies they have interpreted unless they are actively involved with intraoperative spinal sonography (which comprises a vanishing small number of radiologists). Now with this textbook, Surgery of Spinal Tumors, rich in color photographs from the operating room (OR), a glance into surgical correlations is possible. This, of course, is not a substitute for being in the OR and watching step-by-step tumor removal, but the book is, nonetheless, instructional.

The authors, both German neurosurgeons, have compiled their experience with more than 1000 spinal tumors and have divided the tumors into the usual 3 categories: intramedullary, extramedullary/intradural, and epidural tumors. A by-product of this categorization is that one gets an idea of the relative frequency of various tumors within each category, in both adults and children. Each of these tumor categories starts with a subsection entitled “History and Diagnosis,” and in turn, there are sections on neuroradiology, surgery, exposure, and removal. Variously, there is material pertinent to that particular set of tumors, including, for example, closure, long-term/short-term complications, survival, adjunct therapy, and issues related to specific tumor type.

Do not expect any great revelations concerning the imaging (predominately MR imaging). One could take exception with some of the legends, such as the failure to observe/mention a large prevertebral soft-tissue mass with tracheal deviation (probably a thyroid tumor) on a postoperative MR image, where surgery had been done for a meningioma, or the description of a “conus lipoma,” when in fact this is a lipomyelomeningocele with a distal hydromyelia and spinal dysraphism. Other strange imaging pops into the text, such as the legends describing split cord and an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) while illustrating only the CT scan and plain films, neither of which demonstrate the split cord or the AVM. The incomplete nature of a few of the legends is exemplified by a case of neurenteric cyst, in which there is a failure to mention the associated vertebral anomaly and incompletely/inadequately described CSF flow studies. In addition, a reasonable addition to the book would have been the inclusion, in the intramedullary tumor section, of pathologic entities that mimic tumors, both clinical and imaging findings, but, in fact, were other etiologies such as inflammatory or autoimmune processes. This, as we all know, is an area where mistakes can be made both by the radiologist and the surgeon.

In the epidural tumor section, there is a wide-ranging and interesting set of pathologies. A number of good cases are shown in the neuroradiology portion of this section, including (just to name a few) unusual osteosarcomas, an extradural cavernoma mimicking a synovial cyst, a small osteoblastoma, cord herniation, intraosseous cavernoma, and epidural hematomas in various stages of evolution. The object here was to compare a number of theses entities with tumors in the extradural space. Although perhaps for the neurosurgical community it would not be so important, this reviewer would like to have seen labeling on the intraoperative photographs and sequential line drawings to show some of the more complex approaches to the extradural (bony and soft tissue) tumors.

In fairness, the book is not intended to be a learning experience in imaging (though one would have hoped for more accuracy in some areas)—it was to show how the surgeon approaches and deals with a variety of tumors. In this, the authors have succeeded. This, therefore, is a book that few neuroradiologists will want to own personally but would be an appropriate addition to the library of a neuroradiology department where there is a fellowship training program. In this reviewer's opinion, a deficiency in most neuroradiology training programs is that block time is not specifically set aside for fellows to go to the OR and observe the neurosurgeon in action. Time constraints and clinical demands have abrogated that option; therefore, in a minor sense, this book could be consulted on occasion (admittedly a suboptimal substitute) to show how one deals with spinal tumors.

Figure
  • American Society of Neuroradiology
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

American Journal of Neuroradiology: 30 (7)
American Journal of Neuroradiology
Vol. 30, Issue 7
August 2009
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Advertisement
Print
Download PDF
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Journal of Neuroradiology.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Surgery of Spinal Tumors
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Journal of Neuroradiology
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Journal of Neuroradiology web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Surgery of Spinal Tumors
American Journal of Neuroradiology Aug 2009, 30 (7) e101; DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A1598

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Surgery of Spinal Tumors
American Journal of Neuroradiology Aug 2009, 30 (7) e101; DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A1598
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Purchase

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Crossref
  • Google Scholar

This article has not yet been cited by articles in journals that are participating in Crossref Cited-by Linking.

More in this TOC Section

  • Ischemia and Loss of Vascular Autoregulation in Ocular and Cerebral Disease: A New Perspective
  • HIV and the Brain: New Challenges in the Modern Era (Current Clinical Neurology)
  • EXPERT ddx Brain and Spine
Show more Book Reviews

Similar Articles

Advertisement

News and Updates

  • Lucien Levy Best Research Article Award
  • Thanks to our 2022 Distinguished Reviewers
  • Press Releases

Resources

  • Evidence-Based Medicine Level Guide
  • How to Participate in a Tweet Chat
  • AJNR Podcast Archive
  • Ideas for Publicizing Your Research
  • Librarian Resources
  • Terms and Conditions

Opportunities

  • Share Your Art in Perspectives
  • Get Peer Review Credit from Publons
  • Moderate a Tweet Chat

American Society of Neuroradiology

  • Neurographics
  • ASNR Annual Meeting
  • Fellowship Portal
  • Position Statements

© 2023 by the American Society of Neuroradiology | Print ISSN: 0195-6108 Online ISSN: 1936-959X

Powered by HighWire