Ross J, Moore K, Borg B, et al. Diagnostic Imaging: Spine, Second Edition. Amirsys 2010, 1000 pages, 3780 illustrations, $339.00.
The second edition (2010) of Diagnostic Imaging: Spine authored by Ross, Moore, Shah, Borg, and Crim offers the reader an encyclopedic and thorough treatise on the Spine. As readers of the AJNR know and as almost all radiologists worldwide recognize, this entire Diagnostic Imaging series by Amirsys has altered the landscape of the way published imaging and its associated information is presented. To think that there could be an improvement over the first edition (2004) would be a bit difficult to conceive but there have been changes.
What are some of the newer or more extensive areas covered in this edition? A few examples will suffice. Scoliosis now is a separate section of the book and with that comes more information in the form of a 2-page including terminology, morphology, measurements, treatment, postoperative imaging, imaging protocols, and differential considerations. While perhaps not as interesting as some of the more unusual abnormalities of the spine such as vascular malformations or spinal cord tumors, reporting scoliosis in a manner helpful and pertinent to the orthopedic surgeon is important and practical. These pages help in this regard. Of course, following this are imaging examples of the forms of scoliosis, and the information under type follows the format used in all these books. New images have been added in this and other sections of the book.
As another example, the section on Vascular Lesions begins with 2 pages of introductory material in a more traditional prose-like format (not present in the 1st edition) following which are described and illustrated the various spinal vascular malformations along with cord infarcts. The authors have tried to simplify the search through this large book by placing running subject titles along the side of each page (not present in the first edition). Any reader of this review should understand that most sections have been enlarged and improved.
This textbook is complete and authoritative. The authors have added more imaging through an on-line access component (the key for which is obtained via a scratch off on the inside cover). The text itself consists of 7 parts: Congenital and Genetic Disorders; Trauma; Degenerative Diseases and Arthritides; Infection and Inflammatory Disorders; Neoplasms, Cysts, and Other Masses; Peripheral Nerve Plexus; Postoperative and Post Procedural Imaging. Much of the content of this last part is new, particularly in the area of hardware—this is a rapidly evolving and changing area of spine surgery and, consequently, understanding postoperative spine imaging of these newer devices is important.
The artwork throughout the book remains stunning, and where it is used serves to educate and imbed in the reader’s mind the salient features of the pathology and anatomy.
This is a remarkable text and builds upon the enormous success of the first edition. In this reviewer’s opinion there should be no neuroradiologist who lacks a copy of or access to this superb book.
