[annapurna]

Well, the truth is that Bertagnoli was on the team of surgeons that evaluated the Prodisc and was involved in some of the decisions about design and tooling. The actual invention of the artificial disk is kinda murky as there are designs that go way back, pre-90's, that are clearly precursors to the Charite, the first ADR that actually took off. I know there are those who bash it, especially a recently closed thread here where the "best ADR" was once again debated but the Charite has been in Rich, Sir Alastair and Laura's backs for over a decade and they're still going strong. Not saying anyone should be fool enough to go back to the Charite but its success in some people really illustrates that surgery is a crapshoot and it's more dependent on patient selection, patient care, and proper surgical placement than it is on the hardware being placed.

Laura had two successful cervical ADRs placed by Bertagnoli. We obviously have reason to think well of his skill. I'll admit, though, when we went there Dr. Fenk-Mayer's diagnostic and treatment efforts were what really impressed us. She seems to have moved on to another practice; a great loss for those going to Prospine. On the opposing hand for our opinion of Bertagnoli is the knowledge that he has screwed up in the decade or so we've been on this board. He's had some mistakes in surgery or patient selection and has had some patient relations problems. So far, there hasn't been any perfect surgeons mentioned on this board; only surgeon's who's mistakes haven't yet been discussed.

Boris, I know it's an older comment but to explain Rich's comment about high volume surgeons based on the many conversations he and I have had:

High volume surgeon = one who's done a lot of ADRs in his lifetime = one who's experience is sufficient to reduce the chances of a surgical error

It doesn't mean high volume per day which increases the chance of errors.