Zileli M, Yaman O, Aebi M. Correction Techniques for Spinal Deformity. 1st ed. Thieme; 2023; 316 pp; 664 ill
Confronted with images from patients who have had various surgical procedures for spinal deformities, the radiologist may be in a quandary as to what exactly was done and therefore what should appear in the radiology report. Added to this complexity is often the question of why a certain procedure was done and what was the operative approach in that surgery. Searching for answers to these questions in the medical record or in the surgical report is difficult and time consuming; the request for a study such as a CT , plain films, or MR will have a stated indication but that seldom reveals answers to questions one may have.
Enter the new book CORRECTION TECHNIQUES FOR SPINAL DEFORMITY, edited by Drs. Mehmet Zileli, Onur Yaman, and Max Aebi. There are over 75 authors/ co-authors from many countries worldwide, giving this publication an international outlook and perspective. There are six different parts or sections, and each section contains five to eight separate chapters. Here are the specific sections:
Techniques for Cervical Spinal Deformity Correction
Techniques for Congenital Spinal Deformity Correction
Spinal Osteotomy Techniques
Sagittal Plane Correction Techniques
Coronal Plane Correction Techniques
Special Topics
As is frequently encountered with many books these days, this publication comes with free access to the e-book edition.
At the onset it must be mentioned that the illustrative material is excellent, particularly when it comes to artist renditions of the bone anatomy and its relation to the surgical procedures. The imaging (primarily CT and plain radiographs), both preoperative and postoperative, is of high quality.
While written primarily with the spine surgeon in mind, there are areas of this book which deserve the attention of the radiologist or at a minimum could be available for quick reference to retrieve important information. With the large number of spinal surgical procedures and devices used for the correction of spinal deformities, it is of value to have the ability to refer to an authoritative book like this, particularly in radiology practices associated with a large spinal surgery center.
Here are just a few of the many areas in this book which would be most germane to the radiologist.
Surgical correction for craniocervical deformities
Surgery for cervical spondylosis and deformities
Surgery for diastematomyelia
Various osteotomies for correction of deformities (e.g. Ponte, pedicle subtraction, corner, VCR)
Sagittal and coronal alignment and balance
Approaches to interbody fusions such as ALIF, OLIF, TLIF, XLIF
Definition of high-grade spondylolisthesis and its correction
It is emphasized that the list above highlights just a few of the features which would be of greatest interest to the radiologist. Understanding the surgical concepts and approaches will make the analysis of the CT and plain film images more interesting and the interpretation of the images more meaningful/ helpful to the referring spine surgeon.
This book can confidently be recommended to those who have a particular interest in spine imaging and the evaluation of the postoperative spine.
