Enrico Tessitore - Surgery of the Cranio-Vertebral Junction

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This excellent and insightful book details abnormalities and treatments of the craniovertebral junction. It provides an overview of the human anatomy, with an emphasis on biomechanics, including the sagittal balance concept of surgical techniques. Even more so, it describes important perioperative considerations, such as the planning of surgical incisions, anesthesiological considerations, and types of preoperative and intraoperative image guidance.

In particular, the authors thoroughly explain surgery techniques per se. These include the traditional anterior, posterior, and posterolateral approaches, as well as innovative minimally invasive and endovascular approaches.

The last part of the book describes in detail how best to treat many of the wide variety of abnormalities that can afflict the craniovertebral junction. It examines both trauma and tumors, not only extra-axial tumors but also inflammatory tumors and foramen magnum tumors.

The authors close with a review of the vascular abnormalities that can afflict the craniovertebral junction and how best to treat them. Lastly, they discuss infectious metabolic diseases that can affect the craniovertebral junction.

This text is a comprehensive review of craniovertebral surgical techniques, anatomy, and abnormalities. The only aspect not covered is the embryological development of this area of the spine, but the authors do not purport to do so. Other authors have written tomes addressing the treatment of craniovertebral junction abnormalities. In this book, however, the authors describe techniques and provide added information gleaned from the surgical literature published during the past several years. These include the sagittal balance concept applied to the craniovertebral junction; innovative approaches, such as the far-lateral transventricular, the extreme lateral, and the anterolateral approaches; innovative techniques applied to neurosurgery techniques; and recent minimally invasive and endovascular approaches. Subsequently, it provides much information to the reader that can aid diagnosis and treatment considerations to address abnormalities of the craniovertebral junction in the modern arena.

This comprehensive textbook on the management of abnormalities that can present at the craniovertebral junction should be in the library of every surgeon who diagnoses and treats problems in this very complex area of the spine.