An International Conference on "Neurosurgical Training and Reserach" was held in Munich from October 6 - 9, 1996, under the auspices of the EANS, and organized by H.-J. Reulen and H.-J. Steiger. Experts from different countries and neurosurgical organizations have collected information on the present status of resident training in neurosurgery and the mechanisms involved with the training. Various aspects, the recruitment process, the criteria used for selection, the contents and structure of a program, the continuous quality control, exposition to the art of research, fellowships and subspeciality training, etc. have been covered. The present book contains this material and thus provides a unique and comprehensive source of information on the complex of modern neurosurgical training. " ... The beauty of this work is that it puts in one place the many varied aspects of a neurosurgical training program that one needs to be aware of ... should be required reading for the faculty of any academic training program as well as for others who may have a misconception of what residency training is ... an excellent book for any program director or active faculty member. It should be required reading for all faculty members before the next round of resident interviews ..." Neurosurgery "... well edited, published to a high standard and will naturally be of interest to those specifically involved in the areas of selection and training ... a useful text for aspirants to surgical training posts ..." British Journal of Neurosurgery

During the last meeting of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (Barcelona 7-16 September 1987), a Symposium was devoted to the use of calcium antagonists in cerebral vasospasm. As shown by its title "Prevention and treatment of delayed ischaemic dysfunction in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage: an update," papers presented at the Symposium covered a broad spectrum from some basic data on pathophysiology of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) and delayed ischaemic dysfunction, to the clinical use of nimodipine, which has been largely documented among calcium inhibitors for its cerebrovascular properties. This supplementum of Acta Neurochirurgica is based upon the papers presented. Some articles, however, have been extended to take into account further results in order to present a broad view of the subject. The Symposium started with two presentations concerning general aspects of SAH: in the first one, B. Voldby reviewed the pathophysiological events following SAH: if modifications of intracranial pressure (ICP) and decrease of cerebral blood flow (CBF) are the primary alterations, metabolic changes (particularly reduction in CMR0 ) 2 contribute rapidly to disturbances of brain circulation. A variety of mechanisms may be responsible for the neurological dysfunction: most of them are directly related to the reduction in cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) which may result in ischaemia. This fall in CPP (either due to elevation of ICP or reduction of mean arterial blood pressure) is observed under different pathophysiological conditions, discussed in the paper by A. D. Mendelow.