Smith FW, Dworkin JS, eds. The Craniocervical Syndrome and MRI. Karger; 2015; 94 pp; 75 ill; $96.00
This short 94-page hardcover edited by Professor Francis Smith, who is associated with the Medserena Upright MR in the UK and Dr. Jay Dworkin, who is associated with the FONAR corporation in Melville, NY, attempts to cover clinical and imaging issues associated with the craniovertebral area and the craniocervical syndrome. It is limited in scope, discussing in 7 chapters a few topics such as trauma and CSF flow at the CV junction, along with tonsillar ectopia and MR venography, particularly as it pertains to the Zamboni theory in MS. Related symptoms in this syndrome include a number of problems such as tinnitus or facial pain, but they are not thoroughly covered, nor are issues dealing with degenerative disease or inflammatory changes or mineral deposition in this area. Adequately covered are CSF dynamics and some aspects of ligamentous alterations at the C1 level.
In many areas of this book, one gets the strong impression that this is an unabashed endorsement for upright MR (not particularly surprising given the affiliations of the 2 editors). Some material is out of place in a book with this title, for instance, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, posttraumatic stress, and NPH.
Some of the legends related to the ligaments of the C1–C2 level could be questioned, not only because of the relatively mediocre image quality but because the reader is not told the MR parameters. Questionable, undocumented, and self-promoting (eg, “this patented method IGAT of correction has been researched, developed, and administered by Dr. Scott Rosa”—who, incidentally, is the author of this chapter on misalignment), parts of the book are not in keeping with commonly accepted academic publications.
The book delivers far less than the title would imply and is conjectural in ascribing symptoms to malignments (written by 2 chiropractic physicians). Therefore, this book is not recommended as a purchase by a neuroradiologist.
