Volume 50 of "Clinical Neurosurgery" is the official compendium of the platform presentations at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons held in October, 2002. Papers delivered at the 2002 Annual Meeting included those by the honored guest, Dr. Volker K.H. Sonntag. This year's volume follows the tradition of focusing largely on the interests of the honored guest, which for Dr. Sonntag include improving understanding of spinal disorders, especially cervical and upper cervical spine disorders.