Cerebrospinal Fluid Research

The 50 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Research into Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida took place in the historic surroundings of Queens’ College in Cambridge, England. Delegates were warmly welcomed by Professor John Pickard and his organising team from the Department of Academic Neurosurgery, and we are especially indebted to Dr. Hugh Richards for his tireless work to make this conference a success. A feature of the 50 anniversary meeting was a presentation from archivists Ewen Mackinnon and Leonie Holgate, featuring documents and photographs illustrating the society’s activities over the past 50 years. We were also happy to welcome a large delegation from Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, who helped with the administration of the conference as well as making a contribution to proceedings. Their chief executive, Andrew Russell, gave a talk outlining his tireless efforts in the cause of flour fortification with folic acid. Cambridge is an ancient and beautiful city and delegates enjoyed taking in the wonderful architecture, both on foot and by punt. A particular pleasure after a tiring day was to be able to relax in the historic surroundings of King’s College Chapel and listen to an organ recital by Stephen Cleobury. The chairman of our host committee, Professor John Pickard, delivered a presentation entitled ‘‘Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension’’. His talk ranged from the history and traditions of this difficult condition, to cutting edge science. Overall, it was a valuable and erudite exposition on the subject. Miss Carole Sobkowiak, in her presidential address, drew on a long and distinguished career helping children and families deal with physical disability. She stressed the importance of management from early infancy, and emphasised the relevance of posture and vision. The scientific sessions varied from presentations on experimental hydrocephalus to considerations of social well being in our client group. The abstracts are published below. The Society emphasises that it is our policy to publish the abstracts without any editing. Readers who wish to comment on the content of the abstracts should contact the authors, whose email addresses are included with each published abstract. Finally, we were cordially invited by Professor Alfred Aschoff to the 51 Annual Conference to take place in Heidelberg, Germany, on June 27–3