Endocrine glands may be involved in patients with thalassemia major. In the last 20 years, new therapies have significantly improved life expectancy, while several endocrine abnormalities have been described in children, adolescents, and young adults suffering from thalassemia major.
The practical objective of this book is to establish guidelines for the management of endocrine disorders underlying the various phases of thalassemic life. Internationally acknowledged experts give a state-of-the-art account of physiopathological and therapeutical approaches to endocrine disorders in thalassemia and focus on such topics as growth hormones, thyroid diseases, puberty, hypogonadism, diabetes, and bone metabolism.

Since Harvey Cushing's extensive study on brain meningiomas no similar study has been conducted on spinal cord meningiomas. The high scientific value of this book is based on the careful elaboration of data from patients affected by spinal meningiomas who have been examined and operated on over the last 33 years (1962-1995) at the Neurosurgical School of the University of Florence, Italy. The main focus of this study was on the anatomic and clinical relationship that enabled early diagnosis of spinal meningiomas. More over this book emphasizes the interaction between neurology and neuroradiology in the form of "dynamic neurology." Myeloradiculographic findings are described together with those using more recent techniques such as CT and MRI.