Editor in Chief, Neurosurgeon Gerald E. Rodts, M.D. is on faculty at Emory University in Georgia.

Your expert hosts are practicing spine specialists

Orthopaedic Surgeon Rick C. Sasso, M.D. is on faculty at Indiana University.	Orthopaedic Surgeon Stewart G. Eidelson, M.D..practices medicine in Florida	Neurosurgeon Brian R. Subach, M.D. is on faculty at Emory University in Georgia.	Neurosurgeon Michael G. Kaiser, M.D. is on faculty at Columbia University in New York.	Neurosurgeon Juan Carlos Bartolomei, M.D. is on faculty at Yale University in Connecticut
Orthopaedic Surgeon Christopher Silveri, M.D. practices medicine in Virginia	Neurosurgeon Lali Sekhon, M.D. Assoc. Professor Sydney, Australia	Neurosurgeon Praveen V. Mummaneni, M.D. practices medicine in Georgia	Neurosurgeon Joseph P. Krzeminski M.D. practices medicine in Pennsylvania.

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Recent Questions of Interest I read a SpineUniverse article that said a surgeon performing an Anterior cervical discectomy may elect to not use iliac bone to fuse the extracted disc. Some disc removal is left open and the vertebra are expected to join and fuse themselves together. In what situations would a surgeon not use bone bank or iliac bone to fuse the open spinal disc space? What is the success rate of the vertebra fusing together without any complications? Is it the responsibility of the surgeon to tell the patient about not fusing the vertebra? Thank you for your time. ATLAS From: michaelw Dec 3 2001 Yes, a surgeon should discuss their recommendation for an anterior cervical discectomy WITHOUT fusion (ACD) versus with fusion (ACDF). The procedure without fusion done from the anterior approach is not done commonly and is preferred by a minority of surgeons. Not all patients go on the fuse, leaving them with chronic interscapular and neck pain and the possiblity of recurrent disc herniation or bone spur formation. Gerald E. Rodts, MD Dec 3 2001

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