Handbook of Neurosurgery, 7th edition. Mark S. Greenberg (author). Thieme 2010, 1,352 pages, $99.95.
In a marked enlargement of his sixth edition of the Handbook of Neurosurgery, Dr. Mark Greenberg has provided in this seventh edition a comprehensive and highly useful and readable (albeit with very small font size) review of neurosurgery. Now at 1352 pages (vs 1013 in the prior edition), this soft cover book is designed perfectly to carry in a lab coat. Clearly the intent here is not produce images or to teach one to read MRs or CTs, but rather to teach the basics of nearly every conceivable neurosurgical disease and the care of such patients (surgical and non-surgical). There is information on many neurological diseases (but obviously not all).
The material covered is vast and, frankly, continues information which is usually beyond a neuroradiologist’s experience or knowledge. Nonetheless since we see the results of the surgical workup, planning, operations, and follow-ups, we should have this type of material available at the ready.
What does this book cover? Everything! A review like this can’t cover all the many chapters/sections/charts/ details except to say that I looked at every disease I could think of which had neurosurgical implications, and it was there. You want to know about the screws the spine surgeons use, the pain procedures they do, the practice guidelines followed, the multiple approaches to tumors in many areas (and the pathology, clinical aspects, outcome), seizures and seizure management, details on aneurysms and AVMs and their management, treatment/manifestations of spine and head injuries, stroke treatment, bone tumors of the calvarium, skull base, spinal, and much, much more? Here is your book.
It is sometimes frustrating to read reviews where the books are always “recommended” but that really is the situation here, particularly for neuroradiology. The book is well indexed, convenient, well written (basically a combination of bullet points and sentences), and light weight. This should be on all our bookshelves.
