Historical review and pioneer work.- Carotid cavernous fistula. History and anatomy.- Must we still call cavernous sinus the parasellar vascular and nervous crossroads? The necessity of a definite topographical description of the region.- Anatomy.- Gross anatomy of the cavernous region.- The cavernous sinus. An anatomical study of its lateral wall.- The blood supply of the cranial nerves in the lateral wall of the cavernous sinus.- Microsurgical anatomy of collateral branches of the intracavernous internal carotid artery.- Anatomical remarks on the fetal cavernous sinus and on the veins of the middle cranial fossa.- Histoarchitecture of the cavernous sinus.- Diagnostic procedures.- Facial reflex examination for assessment of subclinical trigeminal nerve involvement in the cavernous sinus.- Dynamic CT scanning of the cavernous sinus.- Radiological grading of tumor extension of the cavernous sinus.- MR imaging: normal and invaded cav-ernous sinus studied with and without Gd-DTPA.- The utility of intravenous DSA for cavernous sinus venography.- Occlusion techniques.- Embolization techniques in the treatment of vascular lesions involving the cavernous sinus.- Endovascular therapy of vascular lesions of the cavernous sinus. Experience with 129 cases.- The detachable balloon technique in the treatment of direct carotid-cavernous fistulas.- Criteria for the differentiation of high-, moderate-, and low-flow carotid-cavernous sinus fistulas and their treatment with balloon catheters.- Closure of carotid-cavernous fistulas by intracavernous surgical insertion of biological materials.- Surgery of vascular lesions.- Carotid cavernous aneurysms and fistulae.- Traumatic carotid aneurysms of the cavernous sinus.- Strategies in intracavernous saccular aneurysms.- Para- and infraclinoidal aneurysms. Anatomy, surgical technique and report on 22 cases.- Direct approaches to vascular lesions in the cavernous sinus via the medial triangle.- Treatment of internal carotid infraclinoid aneurysms.- Direct operation on intracavernous giant aneurysm.- Treatment of intracavernous aneurysms of the ICA and CCFs by direct approach.- The antero-external approach to the internal carotid artery at the base of the skull and intrapetrously.- Tumor surgery.- The direct microsurgical approach to intracavernous tumors.- Usefulness of the orbitofrontomalar approach associated with bone reconstruction for frontotemporosphenoid meningiomas.- An orbitozygomaticomalar bone flap approach: a technical note.- Skull base approaches for meningiomas invading the cavernous sinus.- Trigeminal neurinomas. A special type of cavernous sinus tumors.- Treatment of tumors invading the cavernous sinus.- Pathological aspects in a series of 53 cavernous sinus tumors.- The transnasal approach to the cavernous sinus.- Transsphenoidal surgery of pituitary adenomas developed towards the cavernous sinus.