Cerebellar Disorders in Children. Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 191–192

Eugen Boltshauser and Jeremy Schmahmann, Eds. Cerebellar Disorders in Children. Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 191–192, London: Mac Keith Press; 2012 (456 pages).

It is with great pleasure that I introduce a recently published book on “Cerebellar Disorders in Children” to the distinct circle of readers of Neuropediatrics.

The cerebellum is nowadays recognized as part of the central nervous system that essentially contributes to the coordination of movement as well as learning and attention, among other “higher cerebral functions.” Like other parts of the brain the cerebellum is vulnerable, and cerebellar abnormalities are thus found in a large variety of acquired and inherited disorders. Not only the causes but also the consequences (i.e., the clinical and morphological features of cerebellar disorders) vary strongly depending on the patient's age.

The different chapters of Cerebellar Disorders in Children are written by more than 30 well known authors from Europe, the United States, and Canada. The reference lists of the individual chapters appear complete and up to date, generally containing references up to the year 2010. A diligent selection of MR images is provided throughout the whole book to illustrate important radiological aspects of the different cerebellar disorders. High-quality printing ensured clarity of their essential details. Images and diagrams in the book are generally highly illustrative, in black and white; in addition, 27 highly attractive color plates are included at the back of the book.

Cerebellar Disorders in Children is divided into 9 logical parts (encompassing 42 different chapters) and contains another 29 detailed tables, called “checklists,” that are provided as an appendix. Apparently, the authors have not been forced to use a rigid format for their texts, which may have led to the current good readability of the book in some sections at the cost of less structured descriptions of clinical features, MR characteristics/neuropathology, pathogenesis, and treatment. The “checklists” offer helpful differential diagnoses including short comments and key references for selected clinical and radiological features. Although the authors point to their incompleteness, I rather admire the fact that these lists contain the most important considerations without being endless.

Parts 1 to 3 fill the first 111 (out of 435) pages of the book. They cover the basic aspects of the embryological development and the final mature anatomy of the cerebellum and its circuitries, from a histological as well as radiological point of view. Furthermore, the physiologic functions of the cerebellum and the characteristic clinical features of cerebellar diseases are described. Part 4, another 100 pages, deals with cerebellar malformations. It is well organized and gives a wonderful overview of all different disorders that can be found under this umbrella. Instead of filling many pages with discussions on the most appropriate classification of these disorders, the authors of this book rely on logical definitions and appropriate descriptions of malformations, which is a relief to the reader. At almost 100 pages, part 5 deals with genetic and metabolic disorders. This part is also well organized and offers a comprehensive overview of the fast growing knowledge in this field. The final parts 6 to 9 are the smaller parts of the book but nevertheless they cover important and well described groups of acquired cerebellar disorders, among which are vascular, inflammatory, neoplastic and paraneoplastic, toxic and traumatic disorders. One might argue that it does not make much sense to spend a separate mini-chapter (35) on paraneoplastic cerebellar ataxia in Hodgkin disease, and better put this entity together with the other paraneoplastic syndromes (chapter 34 on Langerhans cell histiocytosis and chapter 38 on opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome). As it is organized however, the table of contents gives a very helpful and quick overview of all different disorders that are described in this book.

Altogether, Cerebellar Disorders in Children is a comprehensive and very readable, modern textbook. Its scientific content is of high quality and well organized. The reader is comfortably guided through a wide variety of genetic as well as acquired cerebellar disorders that manifest during the first 2 decades of human life, including the 9 months before birth. I consider this book a wonderful and unique standard, and look forward to using it during everyday practice in paediatric neurology.