Editor-in-Chief: Rick A. Friedman, MD
Associate Editors: William H. Slattery III, MD, Derald E. Brackmann, MD, Jose N. Fayad, MD, and Marc S. Schwartz, MD
Illustrator: Mark M. Miller
Publisher: Thieme – 201 pages
Book Review by: Nano Khilnani

A lot of the material for this outstanding book with excellent sketches, would not have been discovered, evolved, developed, and made available today were it not for the work of three medical-surgical pioneers. The House Clinic of Los Angeles, founded by Drs. Howard and William House and William Hitselberger in the 1930s is one of the richest sources of knowledge in the world on lateral skull base surgery.

The five editors of this text write that the founders’ “fearless innovation led to a dramatic decrease in the mortality and morbidity of surgery for tumors of the skull base, most notably vestibular schwannoma. They ushered in an era that went beyond lifesaving surgery to functional facial motor and hearing preservation.” Over the decades, knowledge and techniques on lateral skull base surgery was shared and spread.

The current staff of the House Clinic includes ten surgeons “who are among the best and brightest in the world” in their field. Surgeons, medical residents and students go to that clinic for state-of-the-art training in the latest technology and training.

Nineteen contributors, all from the United States (except one from Lebanon) including the five editors of this book, contributed material to this book. They wrote the following 17 chapters:

  1. Orbitozygomatic Craniotomy
  2. The Subtemporal Approach
  3. The Middle Cranial Fossa Approach to Vestibular Schwannomas
  4. The Infraochlear / Infralabyrinthine  Approach to the Petrous Apex
  5. The Retrosigmoid Approach
  6. The Translabyrinthine Approach to the Skull Base
  7. The Transochlear Approach to Cerebellopontine Angle and Clivus Lesions
  8. The Combined Petrosal Approach to the Petroclival Region
  9. The Far Lateral Approach
  10. The Fisch Infratemporal Fossa Approach: Type A
  11. The Fisch Infratemporal Fossa Approach: Types B and C
  12. The Preauricular Infratemporal Approach
  13. Temporal Bone Resection
  14. Microvascular Cranial Nerve Decompression
  15. Complications of Neurotologic Surgery
  16. Auditory Brainstem Implants
  17. The Fine Points of Posterior Fossa Surgery

In addition to the print content detailed above, you can also view the following videos at www.MediaCenter.thieme.com :

  1. Middle Fossa Approach
  2. Retro-Sigmoid Craniotomy
  3. Translabyrinthine Craniotomy
  4. Transotic Approach
  5. Combined Petrosal Approach
  6. Temporal Bone Resection
  7. Auditory Brainstem Implant
  8. Blind Closure and CSF Leak Closure

 

Editor-in-Chief:

Rick A. Friedman, MD, PhD is Associate of the House Clinic; Chief of the Center on Genetic Disorders of the Ear at House Research Institute; and Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery – at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.

Associate Editors:

 

William H. Slattery III, MD is Associate of the House Clinic; Director of the Clinical Studies Department at House Research Institute; and Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery – at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.

Derald E. Brackmann, MD is Associate of the House Clinic; Member of the Board of Directors of the House Research Institute; and Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Neurologic Surgery – at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.

Jose N. Fayad, MD is Associate of the House Clinic; Co-Director of the Department of Histopathology at House Research Institute; Chair of the Otology Section at St. Vincent Medical Center; and Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery – at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.

 

Marc S. Schwartz, MD is Associate of the House Clinic and Chief of the Division of Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, and Podiatry at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

Contributors:

Marc K. Bassim, MD
Derald E. Brackmann, MD
Robert D. Cullen, MD
Antonio de la Cruz, MD
Jose N. Fayad, MD
Rick A. Friedman, MD, PhD
L. Fernando Gonzales, MD
William E. Hitselberger, MD
John W. House, MD
Gregory P. Lekovic, MD
James Lin, MD
William M. Luxford, MD
Felipe Santos, MD
Marc S. Schwartz, MD
Maroun T. Semaan, MD
William H. Slattery, MD
Karen Borne Teufert, MD
Eric P. Wilkinson, MD, FACS