Human Brainstem Vessels

I am greatly pleased and honoured to have been invited by Professor HENRI DUVERNOY to contribute a foreword to this book, especially since I became aware of the magnitude of his researches upon the cerebral vessels only a few years ago. These researches have, in fact, been pursued for almost two decades, beginning with a study of the hypophyseal vessels in 1958. More recently he has published a monograph entitled "The Superficial Veins of the Human Brain", and those who know this book will have noted the succinct clarity of the descriptive text and the superb quality ofthe photographs with which this chef-d'oeuvre is illustrated. This outstanding contribution to intimate detail of the superficial vascularization of the brainstem is now complemented by a second volume on internal angio-architec­ ture. As before, the emphasis is upon direct photographic evidence, and again the photographs are of a quality which must be almost unsurpassable. Those who are familiar with the technique of vascular injection of the brain and of the diffi­ culties of micro-anatomical identification, will applaud the excellence of Professor DUVERNOY' s preparations. Even the smallest named nuclei and fasciculi of nerve fibres are displayed most effectively. From study of these details, in conjunction with other descriptions of brain stern vessels (to which Professor DUVERNOY has hirnself contributed much), the vascular supply and drainage of all the recognised entities in the brain stern can be deduced.