Composition of Peripheral Nerves

To the orthopaedic trainee and indeed his tutors structural scoliosis is a complex problem in management. But cooperation with cardio-respiratory physicians, anaesthetists and others has done much to ease the heavy clinical burden. If the deformity is mechanically complex, its aetiology and pathogenesis are obscure and often baffling. However, when eminent anatomists, biochemists, physicians and orthopaedists convene to discuss these latter problems one may expect clarification. Most certainly these 'proceedings' do this and more, and should be read by all whose interests are in diseases of childhood. Scoliosis touches many systems. The monograph reports on the experimental production of scoliosis in laboratory animals; the mechanical interpretations and explanations of the progression of the deformity; and the biochemical, metabolic and neurological diseases which are associated. Allusion is made to the genetic factors involved. The contributors are lucid though not necessarily convincing. Photographs are of good quality; the tables in the text are simple and self-explanatory. Perhaps one could have expected something better than a paperback edition for a not inconsequential price, although this in no way detracts from the value that lies between the covers. This monograph is a useful supplement to standard orthopaedic texts and specialized works on scoliosis.