This series of yearly books on Advances in Neurotraumatology is being published under the auspices of the Scientific Committee of Neuro traumatology of the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons. For some years neurotraumatology was perhaps too much looked upon as a secondary part of neurosurgery. But the constant increase of cases has provoked a renewal of interest all over the world, involving not only neurosurgeons but also any surgeon who has to take care of such patients. Each volume, in order to cover the whole of neurosurgery, will be concerned with a special topic, the various chapters of which being envisaged in detail, and followed by a practical "How to do it." Every volume will also contain chapters outside the envisaged topic regarding some up-to-date problems. The authors, chosen from various countries for their special competence, will try to offer an efficient contribution to the knowledge of neuro traumatology, and also to present a bedside series of handy books helping those who tend these cases. The first volume will deal with "Extracerebral Collections," the second "Dorsal and Lumbar Spine and Spinal Cord Injuries," the third "Cerebral Contusions, Lacerations and Hematomas," and the next ones will continue to successively approach all the other neurotraumatological topics."

The Committee of Neurotraumatology of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies decided to elaborate a Glossary of Neuro- traumatology, and for this purpose appointed a subgroup of members of this Committee, headed by Dr. E. S. Gurdjian, whose report follows this preface. The main reason for the Committee's decision was the hope that the diffusion of the Glossary through "Acta Neurochirurgica" may bring about a better understanding of neurotraumatological terminology on a worldwide scale. The Glossary should facilitate the classification and the comparison of traumatic lesions of the Nervous System. It will consequently be easier to compile statistics and correctly interpret the informations thus obtained. The very commendable initiative of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in revising the terminology of head injuries and in publishing this work in Vol. 12 (1966) of "Clinical Neurosurgery" constitutes an important contribution. In 1977 the Glossary now presented endeav- ours to complete and bring up to date the definitions of anatomical or physiological modifications in the neurotraumatological field. We wish to express our thanks to Dr. Gurdjian and to the other members of the Neurotraumatological Committee who were responsible for the elaboration of this Glossary and whose efforts to standardise, as much as possible, the language used by scientists of different nationalities, have resulted in a better understanding between neurosurgeons.