3D Head & Neck Anatomy with special Senses and Basic Neuroanatomy. Barry Berkovitz, Claudia Kirsch, Bernard J. Moxham, Gus Alusi, Tony Cheesman (Authors). Primal Pictures 2009, DVD, $345.00.

This is an interactive DVD which displays head and neck anatomy in a pictorial fashion in combination with multiplanar T1 weighted MR images. The setup allows one to scroll over the MR images or over the anatomic drawings and with that the major structures are indentified. Additionally, movements of various structures are played in a cine-like mode and include eye, cervical spine, TMJ, larynx, face, and muscle animation. The drawings are excellent (particularly those involving the inner and middle ear); however, the MR imaging is not optimal. The displayed images, especially in the neck, are degraded by phase/motion artifacts and limiting the MR to just these T1WIs does not take full advantage of the power of MR to display anatomy. Images can be saved to your PC. The instructions for using the DVD are clear, and the format is intuitive.

For a student learning basic anatomy, the material is good and is a painless to way to learn the major structures; however, for the neuroradiologist, the DVD is found to be wanting in the brain. Only the most gross and obvious structures are labeled (white matter, cortex, cerebellum, etc). This obviously is of no help to anyone wanting to learn detailed anatomy of the brain. Things are a bit better in the neck and temporal bone, but still none of the material would be satisfying to any radiologist who had special interest in ENT radiology.

This DVD could benefit first-year medical students learning the basics of neck and head anatomy.