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.

The first international symposium on brain edema was held in Vienna/ Austria in 1965 followed by altogether eight meetings since. The most recent was organized in Y okohama by the Department of Neurosurgery of the Musashino Red Cross Hospital, Tokyo. The continuing interest of both, clinicians and experimental scientists alike may be attributable to the fact that brain edema is a common denominator of many cerebral disorders, which under acute conditions threatens life and weIl-being of afflicted patients. Although progress in understanding as weIl as treatment can be recognized since 1965 many problems remain, particularly concerning the control of brain edema under acute conditions, as in trauma or ischemia. A quantum leap was the distinction of the cytotoxic and vasogenic brain edema prototypes as advanced by Igor Klatzo, providing for transition from a morphological to functional understanding now. The recent brain edema meetings were certainly benefiting from developments of both, molecular neurobiology on the one hand side and functional brain imaging at an ever-increasing resolution on the other, such as magnetic resonance imaging orpositron emission tomography. The international symposium in San Diego 1996 may witness further breakthroughs, hopefully also of effective treatment modalities. The symposium in Y okohama was dedicated to the "Legacy of 28 Years of Brain Edema Research" as a reminder of accomplishments as weIl as remaining challenges.

The Maturation Phenomenon, described by Ito et al. in 1975 [3) on the basis of his to logical observations in the hippocampus as well as other portions of the cerebral hemisphere, refers to the hours or days of delay in the development of pathological changes in various parameters of ischemic injury following the restoration of blood flow to the ischemic brain. There is a direct relationship between the intensity of ischemic insult and the speed and rate of maturation of ischemic injury, a lesser intensity being associated with slower and less severe development of the lesions. The delayed neuronal death of CAl pyramidal cells of the hippocampus [8) is a classic example. In the cerebral cortex, with increasing intensity of the ischemic insult, the maturation phenomenon of ischemic injuries intensifies, seamlessly, from less exten sive to more extensive disseminated selective neuronal necrosis (DSNN), and then further to cerebral infarction upon reaching a critical threshold [1,2,4,6,7). We also have found that following ischemic insults just under the threshold level required to induce infarction, only disseminated selective neuronal necrosis (DSNN) progresses, while following ischemic insults at the threshold level, initially only DSNN develops, followed by the evolution of a gradually enlarging infarcted focus [5, 7). The reporting of this phenomenon boosted research in the field, as it became evi dent that ischemic damage is not a sudden event, but a process potentially susceptible to therapeutic intervention.

Many nerve cells of the brain which are not killed outright may suffer delayed death or recovery after ischemic insult. This fact has led to the concept of "maturation phenomenon" of neuronal injuries. Since the 1st International Symposium on Maturation Phenomenon in 1990, new developments, particularly in molecular biology, have been rapidly bringing new information about molecular nature and mechanisms of cell death. This book contains the presentations of the 2nd International Symposium held in Tokyo in April 1996. The latest developments in maturation phenomenon and the present status of investigation are described and further stimulation of research in this field is provided.