Spine

In the official European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology (ESSR) issue for the annual 2014 meeting, the authors share their expertise and opinions about spine imaging. The articles in this issue of Seminars review current literature, offering practical advice on some problems that are commonly observed as well as others rarely encountered.

We begin with an article by Simone Waldt and coworkers that offers an overview of radiologic measurements and classification systems that are currently used for the diagnosis of scoliosis and degenerative diseases of the lumbar spine.

Andreas Heuck and Christian Glaser focus on details of the degenerative diseases of the lumbar spine and highlight the importance of a standardized terminology.

Gerd Schüller and Claudia Schüller-Weidekamm write a comprehensive article on the traumatized vertebral spine, addressing the injury mechanism to understand the most common injury patterns in the vertebral spine.

Milko De Jong and Josef Kramer share their considerable experience with sports-related injuries and overuse of the spine.

Claudia Schüller-Weidekamm and members of the Arthritis Subcommittee of the ESSR present a very important consensus article for the diagnosis of spondylarthritis (Bechterew disease).

Sebnem Orguc and Remide Arkun illustrate beautifully the spectrum of primary tumors both common and rare.

James J. Rankine shares his extensive experience in the postoperative imaging of the spine by explaining the most common surgical procedures of the spine.

Fernando Ruiz Santiago and coworkers offer tips and tricks in spinal interventions for reducing pain in various spinal disorders.

In their article about traumatic myelopathy, Eline De Smet and coworkers highlight the advantages of new promising techniques such as diffusion-weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging that allow very early detection of spinal cord injury.

The ESSR issue concludes with a beautifully illustrated article written by Niels Eglund and Anne Grethe Jurik. They review current knowledge about the normal macroscopic and microscopic anatomy of the sacroiliac joint.

My sincere thanks go to all of the contributors to this issue. Their diligence and expertise made my job a pleasure.