I write to congratulate the authors on a fine basic review of spinal cord vasculature and related imaging modalities, but also to point out that as time goes by, the older literature may fall by the wayside, largely forgotten. Ordinarily I try not to act like a dinosaur and point such things out, but the authors do mention (on page 69) in reviewing the vascular supply of the cervical spinal cord, that "according to "Djindjan", other small contributors may arise from the costocervical trunk....". Not only is the name misspelled (I imagine this could have been an error in editing at the journal), but Dr. Djindjian is quoted and yet there is no cited reference to his pioneering work anywhere in the manuscript. I assume that one of the authors is familiar with his work, and wanted to credit him in this way and that is commendable.

We who work and have worked on patients with neurovascular disease of the cord owe much to the work of Rene Djindjian, formerly professor and chief of the Department of Neuroradiology at l'Hopital Lariboisiere in Paris. He took the relatively new (at the time) technique of selective angiography, and applied it to the spinal cord and spinal cord disease. There are ample opportunities for citations: his countless peer reviewed papers, as well as his (now sadly long out of print) classic text, L'Angiographie De La Moelle Epiniere (Angiography of the Spinal Cord), authored by Djindjian (as well as co-authors including Hurth and Houdart) with a preface by Guy Lazorthes (formerly Chief of Neurosurgery, and Dean of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Toulouse), translated into English by Irvin I. Kricheff (New York), and published in 1970 (Masson & Cie, Paris and University Park Press, Baltimore, 482pp).

I do not mean to say that we must be familiar with everything from the past that informs our current practice, but it is important to not forget those who were so critical in advancing the dynamic field that benefits so many of our patients today. Again, I credit the authors for remembering this. I write primarily for the sake of those who may read this paper who may not know of Djindjian's work and may learn from it more directly. Anyone currently working in the field of Neurointerventional Surgery should make an effort to find a copy of this text, and learn from a master.

Best regards

Conflict of Interest:

None declared