Hydrocephalus 2008, 17–20th September, Hannover Germany: a conference report

Welcome to Hannover, welcome to 'Hydrocephalus 2008'. Madjid SamiiMadjid Samii as Honorary President, welcomed participants to Hannover for Hydrocephalus 2008, in particular Tony Marmarou, a pioneer and leader in the field for hydrocephalus research for over 30 years, and Peter Black as Guest of Honour and President-Elect of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. He thanked Carsten Wikkelso for organising the previous meeting in 2006, and for having Petra Klinge host Hydrocephalus 2008.Hydrocephalus is a problem that neurosurgeons face every day and the onset of hydrocephalus with an increase in intracranial pressure is a permanent sequel to neurosurgery. Neurosurgeons need to understand the variable pathophysiology of hydrocephalus and at the same time to search for the best treatment option. Hydrocephalus has many causes, some not fully understood, and neurosurgeons puzzle over why only some patients develop hydrocephalus, the poorly-understood pathology, and why these patients react so differently to treatment. The objective for this meeting was to provide a forum for evaluating experiences, and for solving ongoing problems for patients.Introduction to the meeting report on Hydrocephalus 2008. Petra M. Klinge, President of Hydrocephalus 2008.After the success of the first multi-/interdisciplinary international conference in G？teborg, this second conference was planned to take place in Hannover, Germany, in September 2008. The format introduced at Hydrocephalus 2006 was adopted in 2008, in that the session chairs presented introductory state-of-the-art lectures, together with recommendations for future directions.Hydrocephalus 2008 aimed to cover both the traditional (established), as well as the more non-traditional concepts of hydrocephalus research. Traditionally, hydrocephalus has been approached through an understanding of fundamental changes in the brain and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) physics and dynamics. Both clinical and experimental research