When I first proposed this book, one of the hopes was that it would be the stage upon which would be conducted a quiet, well reasoned discussion of the various techniques of stereotactic radio surgery. At that time, there was quite a bit of rancorous debate that tended to obscure the scientific and medical merits of each of the separate methods. At the present time, I am happy to report that the field of stereotactic radiosurgery is much less riven by such inappropriate posturing. The field has taken many steps towards maturity, both technically and medically. In the course of this mat uration process, there have been many grandiose plans and speeches made on behalf of stereotactic radiosurgery. Inevitably, the reality will not live up to the hype, but such is the natural course of devel opment in these sorts of matters. However, even though events may not match our hopes, we should keep in mind the words of Herbert Parker. Recognizing that new modalities for the treatment of cancer do not stand much chance of revolutionary success, nevertheless, he quite correctly pointed out that " . . . with any type of radiatiQn, the margin between success and failure is small. If the chance of success is a little greater . . . thi might well be classed as a great advance. " Mark H."

Attachment of dissimilar materials in engineering and surgical practice is a perennial challenge. Bimaterial attachment sites are common locations for injury, repeated injury, and mechanical failure. Nature presents several highly effective solutions to the challenge of bimaterial attachment that differ from those found in engineering practice. "Structural Interfaces and Attachments in Biology "describes the attachment of dissimilar materials from multiple perspectives. The text will simultaneously elucidate natural bimaterial attachments and outline engineering principles underlying successful attachments to the communities of tissue engineers and surgeons. Included an in-depth analysis of the biology of attachments in the body and mechanisms by which robust attachments are formed, a review of current concepts of attaching dissimilar materials in surgical practice and a discussion of bioengineering approaches that are currently being developed.

Progress in the development of surgical implant materials has been hindered by the lack of basic information on the nature of the tissues, organs and systems being repaired or replaced. Materials' properties of living systems, whose study has been conducted largely under the rubric of tissue mechanics, has tended to be more descriptive than quantitative. In the early days of the modern surgical implant era, this deficiency was not critical. However, as implants continue to improve and both longer service life and higher reliability are sought, the inability to predict the behavior of implanted manufactured materials has revealed the relative lack of knowledge of the materials properties of the supporting or host system, either in health or disease. Such a situation is unacceptable in more conventional engineering practice: the success of new designs for aeronautical and marine applications depends exquisitely upon a detailed, disciplined and quantitative knowledge of service environments, including the properties of materials which will be encountered and interacted with. Thus the knowledge of the myriad physical properties of ocean ice makes possible the design and development of icebreakers without the need for trial and error. In contrast, the development period for a new surgical implant, incorporating new materials, may well exceed a decade and even then only short term performance predictions can be made.

The mechanical properties of whole bones, bone tissue, and the bone-implant interfaces are as important as their morphological and structural aspects. Mechanical Testing of Bone and the Bone-Implant Interface helps you assess these properties by explaining how to do mechanical testing of bone and the bone-implant interface for bone-related research.
Articles explore the basic mechanical principles of bone-related study and how to conduct mechanical testing of bone specimens. More practical than theoretical, the text includes 42 chapters in three sections that cover mechanical properties of bone, general considerations of mechanical testing, basic facilities and instruments for mechanical testing; mechanical testing procedures on bone tissues; and mechanical testing procedures on the implant-bone interface. There are approximately three hundred illustrations, including line drawings, diagrams, tables, and photographs.
Mechanical Testing of Bone and the Bone-Implant Interface is the most concise, straightforward, and in-depth treatment ever to be published - long needed by the orthopedic and bone research communities.

Moving beyond the debate over whether and to what degree mild head injury has lasting neuropsychological sequelae, this book is predicated on the assumption that it does cause some problems in some circumstances for some people. It focuses on the practical questions of who is injured, how injuries manifest themselves, and what evaluation and treatment strategies are optimal, for families as well as patients. The distinguished authors bring to their task not only scientific expertise but extensive day-to-day clinical experience. This book will be widely welcomed as the first comprehensive overview of what we have learned from research and clinical experience about these difficult cases.

This concise, educational, and thorough reference will educate women who are contemplating, undergoing, or recovering from plastic surgery. In Outsmarting Mother Nature: A Woman's Complete Guide to Plastic Surgery in the 21st Century, a female plastic surgeon explains all the major procedures in cosmetic surgery, offering frank insights into both physical and psychological issues and expectations. Dr. Iliana Sweis, who not only performs but has undergone cosmetic procedures, details the stages most women will go through from the time they begin to contemplate plastic surgery. The book explains how one can best prepare for a procedure, what to expect during the actual surgery, and how to handle the healing phase. The first several chapters discuss the emotional aspects underlying the desire to undergo plastic surgery, including its social and professional impacts. Each of the subsequent chapters is devoted to individual plastic surgery procedures in significant detail, using a question-and-answer format. Case studies illustrate what cosmetic procedures can, and cannot, accomplish—and the reality checks that need to be in place as part of the decision to proceed.

The permanent effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are not limited to the person who suffers the injury. People who care for the individual, particularly family members, suffer in various ways. Family members are often confused as to the behavioral and neuropsychological changes that they see in a brain-injured rela tive. They can become frustrated and angry when the individual does not return to premorbid levels of functioning. They can become tired and worn down from repeated problems in trying to manage the individual's difficulties while having only fragmented information regarding them. Drs. Smith and Godfrey have provided a useful service for family members by summarizing important neuropsychological changes associated with TBI and providing practical guidelines for coping with these problems. While the neuropsychological problems they describe are not completely understood, the authors provide a useful description of many of the neuro behavioral problems seen following TBI in young adults. They attempt to provide guidelines for family members that have practical utility in understanding and managing these patients. Theirs is a cognitive-behavioral approach that can have utility for this group of individuals. I applaud their efforts to provide something systematic and practical for family members."

Surgery for the treatment of deformities such as scoliosis carries a small but significant risk of damage to the spinal cord through inadvertent compression or interference with the blood supply. Electrophysiological techniques, principally those for recording sensory and motor evoked potentials, offer a means of continuously assessing the conduction of nerve signals up and down the spinal cord and hence the possibility of detecting a defect at an early stage, when the cause may be reversible. This form of monitoring is now accepted practice in many countries. The main contributors to the Handbook are surgeons, neurophysiologists and anaesthetists at the forefront of research. From the United States, where practice has been most widespread, come the results of the first large-scale, multi-centre survey into monitoring methods and their effectiveness. The research papers forming the remainder of the text provide an indication of the high level of current interest and the likely direction of future developments.

A pioneer in organ transplantation discusses the amazing advances in the field One of the most spectacular medical advances of the twentieth century, organ transplantation has become a generally effective and routine treatment for patients with organ failure. In this riveting book, a well-known expert in the fields of clinical transplantation and transplantation research traces the evolution of organ transplantation from its initial stirrings in the imaginations of the ancients to its current status as accepted treatment for nearly 40,000 patients each year. Drawing often on his own firsthand experience, Dr. Nicholas L. Tilney tells the story of the advances in organ transplantation, discusses how societal forces have driven its development, and reveals how its current success is marred by commercialism and exploitation of the less fortunate. Dr. Tilney describes early transplantation attempts, the first successful kidney transplant in 1954 between identical twins, the scientific advances for suppressing the immune system, the introduction of the concept of host tolerance, the new research on donor matching, and the issue of donor brain death. He explores innovations in heart, lung, liver, and other abdominal transplants and reflects on the attempts to make transplants between species. Finally he explains how organ transplantation has become a vast business, creating ethical and logistical conflicts about organ donations.

This issue of Neurosurgery Clinics, guest edited by Dr. John Hurlbert, is devoted to Current State of the Art in Spinal Cord Injury. This is one of four issues selected each year by the series Consulting Editors, Russell R. Lonser and Daniel K. Resnick. Articles in this issue are dedicated to basics of spinal cord injury and emerging therapy and include topics such as: Pathophysiology of spinal cord injury, Natural history of spinal cord injury, Diagnostic imaging in spinal cord injury, Spinal cord injury clinical assessment tools, Spinal cord injury management on the front line, Central Cord Syndrome redefined, Compartment Syndrome, Hypothermia, Pharmaceutical, Regeneration, and Neural interfacing and modulation.

This book serves a snapshot of the current knowledge base in field. As human papillomavirus (HPV) causes a rising number of oropharyngeal cancers, understanding the biological, clinical and social implications of this infection has become increasingly important for head and neck practitioners. This book reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the scientific and clinical questions involved in this disease. Experts in epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer present in-depth reviews which will help to improve the reader's understanding of this topic. The authors provide insight for answers of common patient and provider questions about HPV infection and related disease, and highlight remaining questions to be answered in the coming years.

This issue of Thoracic Surgery Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Stephen Hazelrigg and Traves Crabtree, is devoted to Surgical Management of Benign Lung Disease. Drs. Hazelrigg and Crabtree have assembled expert authors to review the following topics: Evaluation of the emphysema patient: Best medical treatment and indications for surgical intervention; Life expectancy after lung volume reduction surgery; Analysis of recent literature on lung volume reduction surgery; Present role of endobronchial valves in emphysema treatment; Critical Analysis of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial Results for Lung-Volume-Reduction Surgery; Technical aspects of LVRS including anesthetic management and surgical approaches; Future treatment of emphysema with roles for valves and LVRS; Alpha one antitrypsin disease, treatment and role for lung volume reduction surgery; Postoperative Air-Leaks after Lung Surgery: Predictors, Intraoperative Techniques, and Postoperative Management; Value of a multidisciplinary team approach to treatment of emphysema; Economic considerations with endobronchial valves and lung volume reduction surgery; Outcomes of lung volume reduction surgery in homogenous emphysema; and more!

Advances in Cosmetic Surgery, a yearly multi-specialty publication, brings you the best current practice from the preeminent practitioners in plastic surgery, facial plastic surgery, cosmetic dermatology, and oculoplastic surgery. A distinguished editorial board identifies current advances and breakthroughs in the field and invites specialists to contribute original articles on these topics. These insightful overviews bring concepts to a clinical level and explore their everyday impact on patient care. Whether you're learning about a topic for the first time or actively performing one of the discussed procedures, this publication aims to appeal to all specialists in cosmetic surgery.

Few clinical disciplines have been transformed so dramatically by advancements in science and technology as gastrointestinal surgery. To begin with, modern ph- macology has virtually eliminated some kinds of surgery altogether. If one were to take a peek at a typical operating room schedule in a busy hospital of the 1960s, gastrectomies of one kind or another would have constituted a large block of the major surgeries. The advent of effective H2-histamine receptor antagonists and, more + + recently, the H, K -ATPase (proton pump) inhibitors led to a precipitous decline in those procedures such that they are rarely performed today. Exciting new approaches to treating inflammatory bowel diseases and their complications-such as fistulas- with anticytokine therapy may one day have a similarly profound effect on surgery for this condition as well. Beyond pharmaceutics, advances in imaging techniques have greatly facilitated the identification and characterization of pathology in the gastrointestinal tract in a way that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. Just to visualize the pancreas in some way was a horrendous task until abdominal ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, or computer tomography made it simple. The fact that the gut is a hollow organ that can be accessed through the mouth, anus, or even through the wall of the abdomen has been fully exploited with fiberoptic endoscopes that can bend around corners with ease and permit surgery to be conducted through them.

Spinal surgery is a unique area in the process of continuous development. New skills are applied daily in this delicate field by the spinal surgeon: this professional can be either an orthopaedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon dedicated to the treatment of spinal diseases. This book offers a comprehensive approach and reviews all of the possible errors encountered by spinal surgeons in the clinical practice. It is mainly directed towards young surgeons approaching spinal surgery and also to experienced surgeons with regards to complications related to the latest technologies in the spinal field. This approach of treating and understanding problems in cervical spine surgery is unique and will guide the reader towards an improved level of attention regarding pitfalls in cervical spine surgery, therefore fostering the ability of preventing major complications and medicolegal consequences.

The term "minimally invasive spinal surgery" was coined in early 1990 following pub- cation of the first edition of this text entitled Arthroscopic Microdiscectomy: Minimal Intervention in Spinal Surgery, and subsequent establishment of the International Society for Minimal Intervention in Spinal Surgery (ISMISS) under the auspices of the International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT) in April l990. The orthopedic and neurological surgeons who participated in lectures and hands-on wo- shops both in Philadelphia and abroad have witnessed the evolution of minimally invasive spinal surgery from blind nucleotomy to endoscopic fragmentectomy, decompression of l- eral recess stenosis, foraminoplasty, and spinal stabilization. In Arthroscopic and Endoscopic Spinal Surgery: Text and Atlas, Second Edition, experts describe and illustrate various techniques and approaches that are currently used in this field. In addition, the ongoing research for the betterment of spine care via minimally invasive approaches is briefly reviewed. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to so many of my colleagues who s- ported my efforts in the field of minimally invasive spinal surgery throughout the years. Many of them participated in our teaching symposiums and have provided valuable cont- butions to this text.