At the 8th European Congress of Neurosurgery, which took place in Barcelona, September 6-11, 1987, a great number of papers from all fields of neurosurgery were presented, reflecting the major advances that have been achieved in recent years. The Programme Committee of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies has selected the highlights of the congress for publication. These contributions were carefully edited and compiled in two supplement volumes of Acta Neurochirurgica.