Loftus CM. Neurosurgical Emergencies. 3rd ed. Thieme; 2017; 420 pp; 400 ill; $169.99
As neuroradiologists, we deal daily with neurosurgical emergencies of one sort or another. While many of the decisions regarding patient management are clear, there are others about which the criteria for intervention or nonintervention are less well-appreciated. Examples abound: criteria for operating on an SDH, timing for operating or intervening on an aneurysm, treatment/decompression of acute spinal cord injury, etc.
This third edition of Neurosurgical Emergencies, edited by Dr. Christopher Loftus of the Temple University School of Medicine, is a 420-page hardcover book with contributions from 86 authors. It is divided into 37 chapters, nearly every one of which is pertinent to the practice of neuroradiology. Chapter subjects include: loss of consciousness, ICP monitoring, acute hydrocephalus, herniations, cerebral trauma, intracranial hemorrhage, pituitary apoplexy, SAH, acute stroke, venous thrombosis, cerebral infections, emergency treatment of brain tumors, decompression of the optic/facial nerves, status epilepticus, multisystem trauma, acute disc disease, vertebral column fractures/dislocations, spine and spinal cord injury, cord compression due to metastatic disease, spinal vascular malformations, infection of the spine, guidelines for treatment of spine injuries, treatment of peripheral nerve injuries, treatment of compressive peripheral neuropathies, acute shunt malfunction, and myelomeningoceles.
There is adequate imaging in these chapters, and the descriptive information in the subsections in each chapter adds a level of information that will be of value when reading studies, preparing educational lectures, or teaching in a one-on-one environment. We all realize that it is extremely beneficial to read material that is outside our exact areas of subspecialty but is related clinically; doing so brings out information with which one may not be familiar but is nonetheless germane. This book is such an example. It is recommended to readers of the AJNR and members of the ASNR.
