Hemant A. Parmar, MD, Guest Editor

Mohannad Ibrahim, MD, Guest Editor

When Suresh approached us to do guest edit an issue of Neuroimaging Clinics of North America on “congenital malformations of head, neck and spine,” we were humbled and equally honored for the opportunity. We realized it was going to be quite a challenging proposition, but the idea of this project was to demystify the embryologic aspect and make the learning of congenital malformations easy and interesting.

In this publication, we deal with most of the congenital malformations that one can expect to see in pediatric neuroimaging. Each article emphasizes the role of basic embryology in the understanding of imaging manifestation of various malformations. Images are used liberally throughout to help elucidate and graphically exemplify the concepts. We begin with the intracranial congenital malformations and then move to the orbits, temporal bone, neck, and finally, the spinal malformations. We have an article on fetal neuroimaging, emphasizing the role of MRI in diagnosing various malformations in-utero. The final two articles provide a neurosurgeon’s perspectives to various intracranial and spinal congenital malformations. Each of the authors is a recognized expert in their field (some have taught and mentored us!) and we would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks for all their insights and their hard work.

We are grateful to Suresh Mukherji, MD, FACR for extending this invitation to serve as guest editor for Neuroimaging Clinics . We would also like to thank Joanne Husovski from Elsevier for all her support, patience, and assistance during the publication of this issue. It is our sincere hope that the readers of the Neuroimaging Clinics enjoy this issue and find the information useful in their clinical practice.