Paediatric Neurological Disorders with Cerebellar Involvement: Diagnosis and Management – Mariani Foundation Paediaric Neurology Volume 27

S D'Arrigo, D. Riva, E. M. Valente, eds. Paediatric Neurological Disorders with Cerebellar Involvement: Diagnosis and Management – Mariani Foundation Paediaric Neurology Volume 27. Montrouge, France: John Libbey Eurotext; 2014 (Hardcover 248 pages); ISBN: 978-2-7420-0835-3. Euro 64.00

Since 1963, the Mariani Foundation published the “Pediatric Neurology Series” beginning with Occipital Seizures and Epilepsies in Children by Frederick Andermann et al. Important topics of child neurology such as childhood epilepsies, neuromuscular diseases, mental retardation, and perinatal brain damage were discussed. The last book of this series, Volume 27, discusses cerebellar involvement in various diseases in childhood. More than 50 authors, including P. Barth, E. Bolthauser, F. Muntoni, A. Poretti, D. Riva, explain, in 22 chapters, the state of the art, starting with terminology (Cerebellum – small brain but large confusion), going to anatomy, embryology, to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical aspects, and ending with care and rehabilitation in cerebellar disorders.

To start with, I strongly recommend the book. For me as a clinician, I was pleased to read a lot of background information in the Chapters 4, 5, and 6 dealing with classification aspects by MRI, due to embryology/fetal development, and neuropathological aspects. On the contrary, one will find excellent reviews on cerebellar malformation syndromes and on acquired and degenerative disorders.

As so many authors are involved, this volume has many advantages and some disadvantages. The advantages are that the chapters are written with clarity and includes lots of information, referring to the very last original papers, as well as giving the reader an excellent review on specific topics, for example, on the significance of the cerebellum for higher cognitive functions, which is touched by different authors, and on cerebellar lesions in preterm babies. On the contrary, the same train of thoughts in the introduction to different chapters leads to some reduction. Most chapters harmonize very well; however, it is not self-explanatory why few other chapters have been included in this volume, for example, Chapter 10: “The ever-expanding spectrum of congenital muscular dystrophies.” E. Mercuri and F. Muntoni wrote a really excellent review on congenital muscular dystrophy, but this article could be placed in any textbook of neurology or child neurology, not bringing the cerebellum in the focus of interest. Of course, there is a bridge—some of CMD have cerebellar malformation, but that is it, not more.

Eugen Boltshauser has taught us so often, when criticizing the flooding of unnecessary laboratory investigations: “You have not to seek for penguins at the North Pole.” It would have been very nice to have such a chapter concentrating on the problems that one can come across in a given patient from the clinical symptomatology to the final diagnosis. In summary, I can strongly recommend this book to anybody who wants to learn more on this complicated, perhaps still underestimated, and not completely understood, organ.