It is estimated that the functionally significant body of knowledge for
a given medical specialty changes radically every 8 years. New
specialties and "sub-specialization" are occurring at approximately an
equal rate. Historically, established journals have not been able either
to absorb this increase in publishable material or to extend their
readership to the new specialists. International and national meetings,
symposia and seminars, workshops, and newsletters suc- cessfully bring
to the attention of physicians within developing spe- cialties what is
occurring, but generally only in demonstration form without providing
historical perspective, pathoanatomical corre- lates, or extensive
discussion. Page and time limitations oblige the authors to present only
the essence of their material. Pediatric neurosurgery is an example of a
specialty that has de- veloped during the past 15 years. Over this
period neurosurgeons have obtained special training in pediatric
neurosurgery and then dedicated themselves primarily to its practice.
Centers, Chairs, and educational programs have been established as
groups of neuro- surgeons in different countries throughout the world
organized themselves respectively into national and international
societies for pediatric neurosurgery. These events were both preceded
and fol- lowed by specialized courses, national and international
journals, and ever-increasing clinical and investigative studies into
all aspects of surgically treatable diseases of the child's nervous
system.