Volume 55 of Clinical Neurosurgery is the official compendium of the platform presentations at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons held in September, 2007. It represents the official compilation of the invited scientific manuscripts from the plenary sessions, the Presidential address by Dr. Douglas Kondziolka, and biographic and bibliographic information of the Honored Guest, Dr. L. Dade Lunsford.