J. Brihaye Bücher

As an addition to the European postgraduate training system for young neurosurgeons we began to publish in 1974 this series devoted to Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery which was later sponsored by the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. 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 publication 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 proce.dures, 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 post­ graduate training. However, we are convinced that it will also be useful to experienced, fully trained neurosurgeons. Inhaltsverzeichnis A. Advances.- Present Status of Lasers in Neurosurgery.- B. Technical Standards.- Selective Amygdalohippocampectomy: Indications, Investigative Technique and Results.- Spinal Cord Astrocytomas of Childhood.- Author Index.

As a result of its structure, the skull base forms a borderline between different medi cal and surgical specialties. Nevertheless, the pathology of the skull may involve crossing these boundaries. Consequently, treatment may require a multidisciplinary approach with close cooperation between different specialists, each with his specific knowledge and capabilities. A good example is the cooperation needed in the treat ment of skull base trauma. The Skull Base Study Group was founded some years ago in view of this situa tion. Its purpose is to organize international conferences on topics related to skull base pathology. The first was held in June 1982 and focused on the area of trauma tology. The present volume contains articles written by the highly qualified con tributors to the June 1982 conference, dealing with the anatomical, biomechan ical, and neuroradiological aspects of skull base fractures and their consequences in neurologic and vascular dysfunction and deficits. Many authors from Europe and abroad have contributed to the high standard of this book. I would like to congratulate the Editors on the publication of this volume. It contains many important and interesting aspects of particular value to all medical and surgical specialists working in or on one of either sides of the skull base.