This series has already become a classic. In general, one volume is published per year. The advances section presents fields of neurosurgery and related areas in which important recent progress has been made. The technical standards section features detailed descriptions of standard procedures to assist young neurosurgeons in their post-graduate training. The contributions are written by experienced clinicians and are reviewed by all members of the editorial board.

This series, sponsored by the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies, has already become a classic. In general, one volume is published per year. The advances section presents fields of neurosurgery and related areas in which important recent progress has been made. The technical standards section features detailed descriptions of standard procedures to assist young neurosurgeons in their post-graduate training. The contributions are written by experienced clinicians and are reviewed by all members of the editorial board.

This volume of Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery is devoted entirely to the spine. Like other volumes in the series, it presents important recent progress in the field and offers detailed descriptions of standard procedures to assist young neurosurgeons. Among the advances considered are approaches to spinal navigation, including intraoperative imaging based navigation, and concepts of spinal robotics. The value of sagittal balance as a parameter for the neurosurgeon is examined, and a novel surgical approach to longitudinal pathologies within the spinal canal is presented. Developments in surgery for kyphosis are also discussed, with a focus on pedicle subtraction osteotomy. The technical standards section critically reviews the latest evidence regarding cervical disc arthroplasty and pedicle-based non-fusion stabilization devices. The book concludes by discussing the treatment of craniovertebral junction instability as a result of juvenile chronic arthritis.

S. Price: Advances in imaging low grade gliomas - M.J. Riemenschneider, G. Riefenberger: Molecular neuropathology of low grade gliomas and its clinical impact - I . Whittle: What is the place of conservative management for adult supratentorial low grade glioma - D. Kurzwelly, U. Herrlinger, M. Simon: Seizures in patients with low grade gliomas -- incidence, pathogenesis, surgical management, and pharmacotherapy - L. Bello et al: Present day's standards in microsurgery of low grade gliomas - B. Baumert: Is there a place for radiotherapy in low grade gliomas - F.W. Kreth, N. Thon, J.-C. Tonn

No special field of surgery dealing with the cranial nerves exists today. This is not surprising in view of the characteristics of this group of morphologically and topo graphically heterogenous nerves. Morphologically we must differentiate between central nerves (I, II and VIII) and the so-called peripheral nerves (nn. III to VII and IX to XII), in which post-lesion rgeneration is quite different. Anatomo-topographi cally we must consider an intracranial and an extracranial part of each cranial nerve. For practical reasons at operation, further subdivisions of the intracranial course of cranial nerves are to be distinguished in the anterior, middle and posterior cranial fossae as well as within the petrous bone. This underscores the extensive tasks awaiting surgeons operating in the ventral part of the brain and facial skull as well as in the more dorsal part of the skull and neck. This very wide field cannot be covered by a single surgical discipline alone. In our opinion, considerable progress has been made in surgery of the cranial nerves only in recent years. This may be explained by the increased mastery of microsurgical techniques by all surgeons in terested in the surgery of the base of the skull as well as with the initiation of more interdisciplinary consultation and jointly performed operations. Possibilities of fu ture development can be discerned in the text. The base of the skull separating the extra-and intracranial part of cranial nerves should not be a barrier but a connect ing link.

This series has already become a classic. In general, one volume is published per year. The advances section presents fields of neurosurgery and related areas in which important recent progress has been made. The technical standards section features detailed descriptions of standard procedures to assist young neurosurgeons in their post-graduate training. The contributions are written by experienced clinicians and are reviewed by all members of the editorial board.