This book presents the results of a unique macroscopic and radiological analysis, by X-ray and CT scan, of the bone pathologies of about 1800 subjects who lived at the time of the Roman Empire (first and second centuries A.D.) and whose remains were recovered during the excavation of a suburban necropolis of Rome. The survey, which represents a collaboration between the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology and the Special Superintendent for the Archaeological Heritage of Rome, has yielded incredible images of different orthopaedic diseases in a period when no surgical treatment was available: there are cases of infection (osteomyelitis), metabolic disease (gout), hematologic disease (multiple myeloma), traumatic lesions and their complications and degenerative pathology (osteoarthritis, particularly secondary and overload). A multidisciplinary team including orthopaedists, paleopathologists, radiologists and medical historians has evaluated the major groups of bone disease in the population finding out incredible cases and picture of ortho-traumatologic pathologies in a pre-surgical era. The homogeneity of the sample and the number of subjects make this a study of fundamental importance.

This highly informative book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date and practical reference for daily clinical practice in the management of patients affected by bone metastases. Written by renowned orthopedic surgeons and leading doctors in the respective fields of expertise, it offers a transversal review of the current medical and surgical treatments to allow a real interdisciplinary approach to the oncologic patient according to the highest current standards. The book illustrates all the fundamental medical treatments for metastatic bone diseases and provides an overview of pathology issues related to this condition. An entire section is devoted to main different methods of patients approach. It also provides guidance on all current surgical procedures and minimally invasive treatment techniques. Using a common language and recognizing the different osteoncologic competences, this work allows surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and physiatricians to update their expertise and broaden their understanding of how a real team approach can improve the management of these oncology patients.