approach to the trauma raquimedular mutidisciplinar. Neurosurgeons Rodríguez Boto and cowboy Crespo directed a book in which involved 42 specialists.

Madrid, November 2009-Doctors Gregorio Rodríguez Boto, medical assistant of the neurosurgery service of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos and Professor of this same specialty in Complutense University of Madrid and Jesús Vaquero Crespo, head of Department of neurosurgery of the Hospital Puerta de Hierro, and Professor of the same specialty at the Autonomous University of Madrid have led the trauma Raquimedular book in offering a multidisciplinary approach to this pathology.

The presentation of this book was provided by the Health Minister, Juan José Güemes, accompanied by Carlos Alvarez Jiménez, President of the Institute of prevention, health and environment of FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE; Dr. Gabriel Téllez de Peralta, Professor of Cardiovascular and thoracic surgery and director of the Department of surgery of the Faculty of Medicine of the University autonomous of Madrid, as well as the two directors of the work Jesus jeans and Gregorio Rodríguez Boto.

Carlos Álvarez Jiménez, President of the Institute of prevention, health and environment of FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE, the Health Minister, Juan José Güemes; the authors of the book doctors Jesús Vaquero and Gregorio Rodríguez Boto, y Dr. Gabriel Téllez de Peralta, Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery and thoracic and head of the surgery Department of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid.

Endorsed by the Ministry of health of Madrid and the Spanish society of neurosurgery, the UAM MAPFRE Foundation Chair, and edited by the Fundación MAPFRE, this work describes different General, mechanical aspects, pathological, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic injury spinal at different levels of the spine, as well as peculiarities depending on the various evolutionary stages of patients: during childhood, maturity or aging.

Twenty chapters written by 42 specialists

42 specialists from 16 Spanish hospitals – neurosurgeons, Neuropathologists, neuroradiologists, rehabilitares, neuropsychlogists, etc.-have participated in this work through its 20 chapters dealing in a comprehensive manner this pathology that increasingly has more relevance and impact, both medical and social.

Thus, after the prologue in charge of Dr. Gabriel Tellez de Peralta, Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery and thoracic and director of the Department of surgery of the Faculty of Medicine of the UAM, in the first chapter describes general aspects of spinal injuries. In the following chapters dealt with issues such as the Biomechanics and mechanisms pathophysiological, pathology of traumatic spinal cord injury; apoptosis and post-traumatic spinal cord damage; clinical evaluation of the patient; the value of simple Radiology and tomography; study of magnetic resonance imaging of traumatic spinal cord injuries; initial medical treatment; injuries of the craneal-cervical Union, of the upper cervical spine of the cervical spine bottom, dorsal, lumbar, the sacra and coccygeal; trauma spinal in childhood and the geriatric patient and trauma spinal penetrating.

Strategies on post-traumatic spinal cord regeneration, the neurorehabilitador of post-traumatic spinal cord injury treatment; the family and social integration of the patient with spinal cord damage and the vocational rehabilitation of the patient with spinal cord damage postramaútico also dealt with in this book that also addresses the current aspects of research both in what it refers to the pathophysiology of traumatic spinal cord to future prospects they can offer the new applied cell therapy techniques to the traumatic paraplegia.

Causes of many disabilities

Spinal cord injuries have great relevance and both medical and social impact because they represent a major cause of disability and its consequences go beyond the personal and family environment of those who suffer from her.

In fact the spinal injuries account for more than 70% of spinal cord injuries and are directly related to the industrial development of a country, so that to greater industrialization increased number of post-traumatic spinal cord damage in their population.

Spain occur in about 1,000 new cases each year with an estimated prevalence of 30,000 people with traumatic spinal cord injury (LMT) in Spain.

In addition to the far-reaching personal, family and labour involving this disease also involves a significant economic cost to the country. so is estimated to each patient with this pathology cost on average in the health system around 200,000 euros during the first year and 30,000 years.

Specialists also stress that there is a greater number of people with LMT increasing their life expectancy and that despite the numerous lines of research open and experimental treatments, there is no effective remedy to achieve the functional recovery of patients.