Editor: Ernest U. Conrad III, MD
Publisher: Thieme – 318 pages
Book Review by: Nano Khilnani
The classification of muscle and bone tumors began in the 1930s and was not finished until the 1950s. While surgical principles for treating such tumors were being discussed over the decades, they did not become reality until the 1970s, after which limb salvage surgery could be done routinely with success.
In the 1980s skeletal allografts and mega-endoprosthesis required for reconstruction became readily available. In the decades since then and up to the present, a lot of theories have become reality, and we march on with more anticipated successes in treating musculoskeletal tumors.
Sixteen specialists in orthopedics and sports medicine, orthopedic surgery, musculoskeletal tumors, and related fields – 14 from around the United States, and one each from Australia and Turkey – authored the chapters of this book, which are grouped together in two sections as shown below.
- Principles of Evaluation and Surgical Treatment
- Initial Evaluation of Patients with Musculoskeletal Tumors
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging of Musculoskeletal Tumors
- Fundamentals of Surgical Treatment of Sarcoma
- Sarcoma Case Reports
- Osseous Tumors of the Upper Extremity
- Osseous Tumors of the Lower Extremity
- Osseous Tumors of the Pelvis and Spine
- Soft-Tissue Tumors of the Upper Extremity
- Soft-Tissue Tumors of the Lower Extremity
- Soft-Tissue Tumors of the Spine, Trunk, and Pelvis
This book empowers practitioners, medical residents and students of orthopedics to evaluate patients who may have cancerous or precancerous bone or soft tissue with, the use of PET or other imaging technologies. It also clearly lays out the fundamental principles of sarcoma surgery, should surgery become necessary.
The first section provides important information (and the benefits of the authors’ experience and insight) to examine patients and to take the next course of action.
The second section provides a rich lode of case histories of numerous patients, with their specific conditions, and what was done in each case. Each chapter here has the same series of subsections and a clinical case to illustrate how patients present and are evaluated based on radiographic and histologic appearance of their tumor. Knowing the fundamentals of sarcoma surgery, the resident or student learns what course of action is necessary.
Dr. Dempsey S. Springfield writes in his Foreword to this book: “The reader gains experience with real-life examples that make it easier to understand how the basic knowledge is applied in a clinical setting. The cases are succinctly presented with wonderful images while thoroughly covering the topic. All orthopedists, radiologists, and pathologists with an interest in musculoskeletal tumors will enjoy the book.”
An important chapter to look closely at, is chapter 3 in Section I – Fundamentals of Surgical Treatment of Sarcoma, authored by the editor Dr. Ernest U. Conrad III. It consists of introductory remarks followed by discussions of topics and subtopics listed below:
- Introductory paragraphs
- Initial Surgical Evaluation: The Basis of a Good Result
- Surgical Fundamentals
- Soft-Tissue Tumors
- Bone Tumors
- Resection for Bone Tumors
- Distal Femoral Resection
- Proximal Tibial Resection
- Proximal Femoral Resection
- Proximal Humeral Resection
- Intercalary Resection of the Femur
- Pelvis Resection
- Sacral Resection and Reconstruction
- References
This is an excellent textbook on evaluating cancerous or potentially cancerous lesions in the bones and muscles. It is authoritative, with an editor who has had many years of teaching and practicing orthopedic oncology, and writings by 15 other experts in this field who share with us their unique experiences and insights, something that is otherwise quite rare and very valuable to students and even established practitioners.
Editor:
Ernest U. Conrad III, MD, FACS is Professor of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Co-Vice Chair and Director of Pediatric Orthopedics at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, and Director of the Sarcoma Center at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.
Contributors:
Howard A. Chansky, MD; Mark Clayer, MD, MBBS; Ernest U. Conrad, MD, FACS; Janet F. Eary, MD; J. Dominic Femino, MD; Andrew T.C. Howlett, MD; Jennifer W. Lisle, MD; Joel L. Mayerson, MD; Hannah D. Morgan, MD; Joshua C. Patt, MD, MPH; R. Lor Randall, MD, FACS; Timothy B. Rapp, MD; Lyle Sorenson, MD; Ismail Cengiz Tuncay, MD; Jason S. Weisstein, MD, MPH; and Philip Z. Wirganowicz, MD.
