Book excerpt: Brain edema is found in a wide variety of clinical disorders including stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, head injury, brain tumors and hydrocephalus. This volume brings together clinical and basic scientists from all over the world. Their expertise in the understanding of brain edema and shifts in brain water compartments has led to a further significant step in our understanding of those diseases characterized by brain edema. This book has also drawn on the expertise of the International Advisory Board of the Brain Edema Society, who have carefully summarized each section, thus providing an easy-to-read summary of the latest advances in each subject. The book is therefore much more than a collection of papers: it represents a critical appraisal and puts each paper into modern scientific context. The greatest advances have come from the rapid development of modern imaging techniques, especially with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging can now produce "water maps” and "metabolic profiles” that bring brain metabolism and water content right into every clinic with access to MRI. This book provides the background knowledge to understand these pathophysiological changes.