The advent in the 1960s of the unique and exciting new form of energy called laser brought to medicine a marvelous tool that could accomplish new treatments of previously untreatable disorders as well as improved treat ment of mundane problems. This brilliant form of light energy is many times more powerful than the energy of the sun yet can be focused microscopically to spot sizes as small as 30 microns. Lasers can be directed into seemingly inaccessible areas by mirrors or fiberoptic cables or can be directly applied into sensitive areas such as the retina without damage to intervening structures. There has been a rapid proliferation in the use of lasers in all surgical specialties. Starting with bold ideas and experiments of "thought leaders" in each specialty, the application of lasers has evolved into commonplace usage. Beginning with the era when laser presentations and publications were an oddity, now nearly all specialty areas have whole sections of meetings or journals devoted exclusively to laser usage. Laser specialty societies within a specialty have developed and residency training programs routinely instruct trainees in laser techniques. Basic science and clinical experimentation has supported laser knowledge. Laser usage has also become international. Newer wavelengths and accessories have added to the armamentarium of laser usage. Despite the rapid growth in laser interest, no single source exists to instruct the many new laser users in proper, safe, and effective use of this new modality."

Although many books deal with isolated problems of calcium disturbance in relation to cardiac and cerebral function, this is the first to focus specifically on calcium metabolism and cerebral ischemia. Internationally acknowledged experts present recent data and new concepts in an interdisciplinary approach to the subject. They examine basic information on the pathophysiology of cellular events, the damage caused by excitotoxic substances, and the effects of calcium antagonistic drugs as measured in experimental animals. These contributions may help lead to possible therapeutic interference for the prevention of calcium imbalance.

In the last ten years the pediatric neurosurgeon has witnessed a real revolution in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric hydrocephalus, the most frequently encountered condition in everyday clinical practice. The evolution of MRI and the advent of neuroendoscopic surgery have resuscitated the interest in the classification, etiology and pathophysiology of hydrocephalus. The book offers an updated overview on the recent progress in this field, and a new approach to hydrocephalus: the reader will find in it a modern and new presentation of an old disease, where genetics, endoscopy, cost-effectiveness analyses and many other aspects of the various therapies are extensively discussed. The volume will be useful not only for neurosurgeons, but for all specialists interested in the various aspects of hydrocephalus: pediatricians, radiologists, endocrinologists, pathologists and geneticists.

As a neurologist and student of the microvasculature, I find great pleasure in introducing this treatise. Presented here is a view of brain pathophysiology and therapy from the perspective of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Virtually every disease process that affects the brain-traumatic, neoplastic, infectious, inflammatory, toxic, metabolic, degenera tive, vascular, and epileptic-affects the BBB. Damage to this homeostatic system often leads to disruption of the composition and volume of brain fluid compartments, thereby contributing to neurologic symptoms and pathology. Furthermore, in disorders in which the integrity of the barrier is not breached, its normal restrictive nature may limit therapeu tic approaches. For example, the barrier appears to function normally in Parkinson dis ease, but its ability to compensate for striatal dopamine depletion is in part determined by the activity of transporters and enzymes operative in the brain microvasculature. of antibiotics, anticonvulsants, antineoplastic agents, and neurolep Similarly, the choice tics requires attention to these drugs' interaction with the BBB. Thus, the barrier inter faces with virtually all nervous system diseases and therapies. Future brain treatments with regulatory peptides, immune mediators, and gene components will require selective methods to deliver these agents to specific brain regions. The second volume of this text successfully provides a thorough review of BBB function and failure in a variety of clinical situations.

As an addition to the European postgraduate training system for young neurosurgeons, we began to publish in 1974 this series of Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery which was later sponsored by the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. This series was first discussed in 1972 at a combined meeting of the Italian and German Neurosurgical Societies in Taormina, the founding fathers of the series being Jean Brihaye, Bernard Pertuiset, Fritz Loew and Hugo Krayenbuhl. Thus were established the principles of European co operation which have been born from the European spirit, flourished in the European Association, and have been associated throughout with this senes. The fact that the English language is now the international medium for communication at European scientific conferences is a great asset in terms of mutual understanding. Therefore we have decided to publish all contri butions in English, regardless of the native language of the authors. All contributions are submitted to the entire editorial board before publication of any volume for scrutiny and suggestions for revision. Our series is not intended to compete with the publications of original scientific papers in other neurosurgical journals. Our intention is, rather, to present fields of neurosurgery and related areas in which important recent advances have been made. The contributions are written by specialists in the given fields and constitute the first part of each volume.

As an addition to the European postgraduate training system for young neurosurgeons we began to publish in 1974 this series of Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery which was later sponsored by the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. This series was first discussed in 1972 at a combined meeting of the Italian and German Neurosurgical Societies in Taormina, the founding fathers of the series being Jean Brihaye, Bernard Pertuiset, Fritz Loew and Hugo Krayenbiihl. Thus were established the principles of European co operation which have been born from the European spirit, flourished in the European Association, and have throughout been associated with this series. The fact that the English language is well on the way to becoming the international medium at European scientific conferences is a great asset in terms of mutual understanding. Therefore we have decided to publish all contributions in English, regardless of the native language of the authors. All contributions are submitted to the entire editorial board before publi cation of any volume. Our series is not intended to compete with the publications of original scientific papers in other neurosurgical journals. Our intention is, rather, to present fields of neurosurgery and related areas in which important recent advances have been made. The contributions are written by specialists in the given fields and constitute the first part of each volume.

Contrary to the neurological manifestations of arterial cerebral blood flow disturbances, respective conditions resulting fram obstruction of the cerebro-venous system are far less well understood. Hence, cerebral sinus vein thrombosis (CSVT) ranks prominently among the group of neglected diseases of the brain. This might be attributable (a) to the diagnostic difficulties of the disorder and (b) to the fact that CSVT is associated with a host of heterogeneous neurological symptoms which often are not specific for the underlying venous flow disorder. Another complicating aspect is that CSVT is a consequence of other diseases as disparate as focal infection, trauma, neoplasia, or a thrombosis disposition caused by oral contraceptive use. Although progress has been made in establishing the correct diagnosis of the syndrome, many problems remain as the discussions contained within this volume vividly demonstrate. The same is true for the present understanding of the pathophysiological basis of the disease, eg, concerning the cerebro-venous circulation, the hemodynamic and neuropathological consequences in particular. Part of these deficits may be attributed to a scarcity of solid experimental data due to the limited availability of animal models. However, relevant experimental models are required for an in-depth analysis of the pathophysiological mechanisms, eg, causing brain tissue damage in relationship with the topographical distribution of the venous flow obstruction and, most importantly, for the testing of specific methods of treatment.

Brain resuscitation is the therapeutic intervention for critically ill patients with severe brain damage, particularly the types caused by ischemia and hypoxia. The The objective of the International Symposium on Brain Resuscitation held in Ube, Yamaguchi Japan October 31 to November 2 1988, and sponsored by Yamaguchi University and the Japanese Ministry of Education, was to review our recent progress in brain resuscitation and to discuss controversies both basic and clinical. To my knowledge, this symposium was the first held in Japan. Our understanding of neuronal dysfunction due to ischemic/hypoxic insults at organ, cellular, and molecular levels has advanced significantly in the last two decades. We had therefore intended that this international symposium should broadly cover the topics which are of interest to both basic researchers and clinicians. Three hundred and twenty-five attendants, including twenty scientists from eight different countries, actively participated in discussion and exchange of new ideas and thoughts concerning brain resuscitation. This book comprises the re ports presented during the symposium which consisted of two main parts: basic and clinical. Although one single meeting can never be expected to solve any problems, meetings often highlight areas of ignorance and problems which are ripe for solving. It has been hard to review all the papers because of the multi plicity of the discussed topics, but the overview on brain resuscitation by Profes sor Bo K. Siesjo and the summary by Professor J."

Language and Speech has been selected for the Fifth Convention of the Academia Eurasiana Neurochirurgica as a topic closely related to neurosurgery but also to philosophy, art, culture and humanity and treated by various experts of the field of this interdisciplinary subject. The volume has a certain structure: Language is evaluated as a tool of the Homo Artis in the introduction, which is followed by chapters focusing the language in history, in linguistics, as well as in music and that of the animals. In the next part speech is dealt with as a physiological process. It is followed by papers on three different but uniformly neurosurgical representation of speech in gliomas, AVMs, and focal epilepsies. Neurologists compiled papers on clinical forms of aphasia, and that among bilinguists as well as on lateralisation of speech centres in relation of handedness followed by rehabilitation of speech disorders. Two papers on language and computers complete the volume.

Neurophysiological recording is the major neuromonitoring technique employed in ICU. In addition, continuous recording of intracranial pressure has proved to provide infomation useful for critical care of the patient with severe brain damage. It is, however, difficult to assess neurochemical and/or metabolic environments of the brain with these conventional neuromoni toring techniques. Information regarding these changes, if available on a real-time basis, is undoubtedly useful for patient care. Many important developments in bedside techniques to monitor these changes have been achieved during the last few years. It was the consensus of the editors that a symposium to exchange knowledge concerning recent advances in such techniques would be valuable. With this background, the First International Symposium of Neuro chemical Monitoring in ICU held May 20-21, 1994, in Tokyo, Japan. It was not the intention of the organizers that this symposium should survey the whole field of neuromonitoring in ICU. The symposium was thus focused on clinical application of microdialysis, jugular venous oximetry, and near infrared spectroscopy, which currently appear to be the most promising techniques for monitoring neurochemical and metabolic changes in the brain in a clinical setting. We termed these techniques collectively as neuro chemical monitoring, contrasting them with neurophysiological monitoring in ICU. The concept that has motivated this symposium was to provide an opportunity to exchange up-to-date summaries on issues currently debated for these techniques. This volume is based on the papers presented at the symposium."

Endoscopic neurosurgical interventions gain in importance. This book gives adetailed description of the recent indi- cations of endoscopic procedures inmodern neurosurgery. They include endoscopic stereotaxy, endoscopic evacuations of intracerebral hematomas, cysts and abscesses as well as endoscopic interventions on brain tumors. An extended over- view about the usable endoscopes and the operative equipment is pointed out

Thousands of people from more than eighty countries have traveled to China since 2001 to undergo fetal cell transplantation. Galvanized by the potential of stem and fetal cells to regenerate damaged neurons and restore lost bodily functions, people grappling with paralysis and neurodegenerative disorders have ignored the warnings of doctors and scientists back home in order to stake their futures on a Chinese experiment. Biomedical Odysseys looks at why and how these individuals have entrusted their lives to Chinese neurosurgeons operating on the forefront of experimental medicine, in a world where technologies and risks move faster than laws can keep pace. Priscilla Song shows how cutting-edge medicine is not just about the latest advances in biomedical science but also encompasses transformations in online patient activism, surgical intervention, and borderline experiments in health care bureaucracy. Bringing together a decade of ethnographic research in hospital wards, laboratories, and online patient discussion forums, Song opens up important theoretical and methodological horizons in the anthropology of science, technology, and medicine. She illuminates how poignant journeys in search of fetal cell cures become tangled in complex webs of digital mediation, the entrepreneurial logics of postsocialist medicine, and fraught debates about the ethics of clinical experimentation. Using innovative methods to track the border-crossing quests of Chinese clinicians and their patients from around the world, Biomedical Odysseys is the first book to map the transnational life of fetal cell therapies.

This volume contains the proceedings of the latest in a series of international symposia on advances in neuro-oncology, held September 26-29, 1990, in San Remo, Italy and sponsored by the University of Pavia, I.R.C.C.S. Policlinico San Matteo (Pavia, Italy) and the Giovanni Lorenzini Medical Foundation (Milan-Houston). It drew papers from six continents of the world, was attended by over 500 investigators, and demonstrated the extraordinary vitality, depth and breadth of research which characterizes modem neuro-oncology. Over the course of the last decade, there has been a remarkable shift in research carried out in the heterogeneous field of neuro-oncology, which appears to be away from clinical descriptive studies, and toward more basic and fundamental investigation of the pathology, immunohis tochemistry, biochemical and cellular subsets of brain tumors. Besides the traditional fields of neurology, neurosurgery, neuropathology, and radiation therapy, there has been an increased interest and involvement by investigators in the fields of medical oncology, neuroradiology, immunology, and many areas of fundamental neurobiology. It has become evident that interest has also been exhibited in a broader spectrum of tumors than just the malignant glial series, and studies in meningioma, craniopharyngioma, neurinomas, and the pituitary tumors were reported. Several sessions were devoted to the special problems of pediatric brain tumors."

A brain-computer interface (BCI) establishes a direct output channel between the human brain and external devices. BCIs infer user intent via direct measures of brain activity and thus enable communication and control without movement. This book, authored by experts in the field, provides an accessible introduction to the neurophysiological and signal-processing background required for BCI, presents state-of-the-art non-invasive and invasive approaches, gives an overview of current hardware and software solutions, and reviews the most interesting as well as new, emerging BCI applications. The book is intended not only for students and young researchers, but also for newcomers and other readers from diverse backgrounds keen to learn about this vital scientific endeavour.

Surgical repair of cerebral aneurysms is a core aspect of neurosurgical practice. While open microvascular technique has dominated Western surgical practice, surgeons in the former USSR have developed endovascular techniques that have gained acceptance among surgeons here. This text demonstrates both surgical and endovascular approaches, written and illustrated by surgeons with vast experience in both, in a comparative context. The work is extensively illustrated with full-color surgical illustrations, line drawings, and radiographs.

Intracranial injury, caused by a transorbital penetrating object, is a neglected topic in neurosurgery. With few exceptions, only occasional publications, often containing merely case histories, are present in the literature. Through a perusal of the world literature - for the first time - the author has collected and combined all available and relevant information, trying to give a thorough description of this rare, but extremely dangerous injury. This book is a major and definitive contribution to neurosurgery, but is also of importance to ophthalmology, neurology, traumatology, neuro-radiology and pediatrics.

The human nervous system-that most complex organization of energy and matter-has yielded a few glimmers of understanding of its operational me chanics during the last two decades. These have mostly been at the biochemical level of structure and function. Throughout history, as one of the mysteries of nature begins to yield some insights into its function, it has been beneficial to look at it from different points of view. We have developed a volume on movement disorders that is primarily directed toward the biochemical understanding of these disorders and their treatment. Each disorder is presented from several points of view. Although this approach leads to some repetition, it is our aim that the final outcome be a more complete understanding. Much has been written about movement: the beauty of the prima ballerina, the strength of the olympic athlete, and the agility of the surgeon. Seldom do we stop to look beneath the surface-the coordination of muscle groups, the finely tuned balance allowing rapid response in either direction, the individual muscle fibers coordinated to maximize strength and agility, and the nerve fibers connecting muscle with nerve centers. Some of these communicate sensory input of position to the centers while others communicate directions of move ment to muscles. We encourage our readers to be constantly alert to the possibility of in creasing their understanding of other nervous system functions, including thought disorder, through an understanding of movement, either in general principle or by specific chemical interaction."

Until recently, monitoring of cerebral blood flow and metabolism was an unattained goal. Determination of cerebral blood flow was limited to intermittent measurements and particularly difficult to perform in critically ill patients. Meanwhile there are techniques available, however, to monitor cerebral blood flow and cerebral oxygenation, both globally and regionally. Therefore we thought it worthwhile to discuss these new continuous techniques and to compare them with well-known techniques which discontinuously measure CBF. For that purpose, an international workshop with some leading experts in the field was held in October 1992 in Berlin. The workshop consisted of about 20 lectures, either reviews on a special topic, or latest results. These contributions were given by invitation and were extensively discussed. Unfortunately it is impossible to reproduce the discussions. On the other hand, all speakers delivered a manuscript promptly after the meeting so that we were able to edit them within a short time. Since monitoring of cerebral blood flow in intensive care is a rapidly growing and changing topic, the written contributions should be quickly available. Authors, editors and publishers have tried to come close to this ideal. As editors we would like to thank the authors and the publishers who enabled us to come out with this volume of the proceedings as early as possible.

In July 2008, European and Japanese specialists in neurosurgery, neurology, interventional neuroradiology and neurointensive care joined together to discuss the latest developments in the management of cerebrovascular disorders at the 4th European Japanese Joint Conference on Stroke Surgery, held in Helsinki, Finland. This collection of papers from the meeting deal with aneurysm surgery and management of subarachnoid hemorrhage and stroke, arterial dissection, intracranial arteriovenous malformations and fistulas, and microneurosurgical bypass and revascularization techniques.

Primary reconstructive surgery is assuming increasing importance in the management of fractures of the spine. Analysis of the injury and thus surgical decision-making are greatly facilitated by the diagnostic power of CT and MRI. This volume provides a systemic introduction to the interpretation of CT and MRI images of injuries to the spinal column and the spinal cord, with special emphasis on the assessment or residual stability. Since survey X-rays remain the indispensable first step in radiodiagnosis, the typical appearances of spinal injuries on conventional films are also shown. This will help the reader interpret the CT and MRI images and also reflects the procedure in radiologic practice. The books classification of spinal fractures, together with the attempt to conclude how the injury happened by analyzing the damage caused, paves the way for individually oriented therapy.

There are two important reasons for publishing this new series entitled "Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery" 1. the lack of any or ganized common European postgraduate training system for young neurosurgeons and 2. the language barriers, which impede the exchange of neurosurgical findings in Europe more than in other parts of the world. The fact that the English language is well on the way to becoming the international medium at European scientific conferences is a great asset in terms of mutual understanding. Therefore the Editors have decided to publish all contributions in English, regardless of the native language of the authors. All contributions are submitted to the entire editorial board before publi cation of any volume. Our series is not intended to compete with the publications of original scientific papers in other neurosurgical journals. Our intention is, rather, to present fields of neurosurgery and related areas in which important recent advances have been made. The contributions are written by specialists in the given fields and constitute the first part of each volume. In the second part of each volume, we publish detailed descriptions of standard operative procedures, furnished by experienced clinicians; in these articles the authors describe the techniques they employ and explain the advantages, difficulties and risks involved in the various procedures. This part is intended primarily to assist young neurosurgeons in their postgraduate train ing. However, we are convinced that it will also be useful to experienced, fully trained neurosurgeons."

In recent years much progress has been made in the field of neurochemical monitoring for the acutelly injured brain. The development of safe continuous microdialysis techniques coupled with microanalytical methodology can generate semi-continuous time profiles of the changes in numerous brain analytes such as lactate, glucose, pyruvate, excitatory amino acids, structural amino acids, indicators of free radical generation, cytokines, adenosine, and neuroprotective drugs. Descriptive studies have shown profound, prolonged, and severe abnormalities in many of the analytes measured and the next phase is to determine the effects of therapeutic interventions upon these parameters. This field of research has contributed tremendously to our understanding of pathomechanisms in acute human brain damage.

Despite recent technological innovations in neuroradiology, the ultimate diagnosis of brain tumors is still based on the histopathological findings from specimens taken during surgery. The material in this atlas represents approximately 700 brain tumor specimens collected mainly in the authors' own clinics. In most cases, complementary light-and-electron-microscopic images of the same case are presented. This volume is a clear and comprehensive guide to the pathology of tumors arising from the central nervous system and should prove useful to pathology residents, neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, and senior medical students.

The XIV International Symposium on Brain Edema and Brain Tissue Injury took place in Warsaw, Poland, on 11-14 June 2008. Two prominent members of the International Society for Brain Edema: Dr. Igor Klatzo and Dr. Julien Hoff have passed away after the last 2005 Symposium in Ann Arbor, USA. Dr. Igor Klatzo was actually the founder of the Society, and the Advisory Board decided to commemorate Dr. Igor Klatzo by introducing a lecture named after him to be given at the Symposium. Prof. Dr. Hans-Jurgen Reulen has been honored to give the frst Igor Klatzo lecture entitled "Bulk Flow and Diffusion revisited, and Clinical Applications". This volume contains 65 out of the 104 papers presented at the Symposium as lectures or posters. The topics of the Symposium were similar to those discussed at the previous ones. Many discussions focused on clinical work especially diagnosis, subarachnoid hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, and traumatic brain injury. Diagnosis and therapy, including surgical methods, have also been verifed. Much attention was drawn to the application of decompressive craniectomy in the treatment of posttr- matic intracranial hypertension. The pathomechanisms of brain edema and tissue injury studied in experimental models have been also presented.