Dear Spine Surgeons and Researchers,

“Neurospine is Indexed in ESCI”

The editorial board of Neurospine is proud to announce that Neurospine was indexed in ESCI on December 11, 2018. In the ESCI index, Neurospine is included in the category of standard and premiere academic spine journals. This indicates that publishing articles in Neurospine will be more competitive and require a high level of academic research standards and ethics.

The current issue (Dec. 2018) presents new intellectual advances in spine research. First, it contains an invited article on the history of the Taiwan Neurosurgical Spine Society (TNSS). This article presents valuable information about the TNSS as the official society of Neurospine in Taiwan and its strategic plan for supporting the academic growth of Neurospine.

The current issue highlights cutting-edge debates in spine surgery. Prof. Atul Goel (Mumbai, India) proposes a novel concept in craniovertebral junction surgery. He writes that the phenomenon of cervical fusion in patients with high cervical instability results from reactive changes to instability. We also present some important findings on machine learning technology for spine surgery. Dr. Varun Arvind et al. (NY, USA) has contributed an article entitled “Predicting Surgical Complications in Adult Patients Undergoing Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Using Machine Learning”. This article provides an intriguing glimpse into the future of spine surgery using artificial intelligence and big data. Photoacoustic imaging is an emerging technology for achieving high-resolution images in real time without radiation hazards. Dr. Seung Hee Han (Toronto, Canada) presents an article entitled “Review of Photoacoustic Imaging for Spine Surgery.” Thanks to technical developments in photoacoustic imaging, spine surgeons will be able to perform surgery without concerns about the risks posed by radiation hazards.

Spinal deformity surgery is particularly complex, and has diverse surgical options and indications. In this issue of Neurospine, we publish an original research article written by Dr. Jiin Kang (Seoul, Korea) entitled “Diversity in Surgical Decision Strategies for Adult Spine Deformity Treatment.” This article provides evidence that diversity in surgical decision-making is affected by the clinical conditions of specific patients, not by surgeons’ training background (orthopedic surgery or neurosurgery) or duration of practice.

The Neurospine editorial board would like to receive your feedback and comments about future directions. We pledge to engage in editorial work jointly with our readers.

Yoon Ha, MD, PhD
Editor in Chief, Neurospine

Shih-Huang Tai MD, PhD
Deputy Editor

Makoto Taniguchi MD, PhD
Deputy Editor