Chirurgie du sein: Plasties et reconstructions

Chirurgie du sein: Plasties et reconstructions

140 BRITISH JOURNAL OF PLASTIC SURGERY thoroughly edited, as a whole it does not haye the impact and educational value that the seminar from which i...

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140

BRITISH JOURNAL OF PLASTIC SURGERY

thoroughly edited, as a whole it does not haye the impact and educational value that the seminar from which it ardse undoubtedly had. DAVID M. EVANS

Atlas of Breast Reconstruction Following Mastectomy. Edited by Bernard M. &Gibbon MD. Pp. xvi+ 181 with 202 illustrations. First Edition. (Baltimore: University Pqrk Press and London: Edward Arnold, 1984.) Price E59.00. This Atlas has 12 contributors, including a psychiatrist and two general surgeons with ap interest in Breast Clinics, under the Editorial supervision of Dr Bernard McGibbon who is himself the author of several sections &f this book. It outlines the more usual forms of breast reconstruction following mastectomy that are now cqrrently in use and devotes a lot of space to the various permutatlons of the latissimus dorsi flap and the use of the rectus abdominus (sic) musculocutaneous flaps that have become so much the vogue in recent months. There is also a short chapter on reconstruction of the nipple&eola complex. It is an incomplete, unimpressive and unimaginative book. The photographs are of very uneven quality, badly lit and with little attempt to standardise the positions in which the photographs are taken. The drawings are adequate but otherwise unremarkable. It is an exwnsive boo% with far too many “white” spaces and I cannot think that many librarians (or surgeons) will be over-anxious to find a place for this volume on their shelves. MICHAEL N. TEMPEST

Chirurgie Du Sein: Plasties et Reconstructions (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Breast). By G. F. Maillard, MD, Denys Montandon MD, and Jean-Louis Goin, MD. Pp. xviii + 317 with 650 illustrations and drawings. First Edition. (Paris: Masson, 1983.) Price 490F. This book is written by three plastic surgeons, Dr G. F. Maillard working in Lausanne, Dr Denys Montandon in Geneva and Dr J-L Goin in Bordeaux. In support of this surgical triumvirate we have a preface written by three other surgeons, Paul Tessier (Paris), Madeleine Lejour (Bruxelles) and Professor CharlesMarie Gros, President of the International Society of Senology. This is a bilingual book: the text on the left hand pages is in English, that on the right hand side in French. Captions in both languages are used for all the illustrations and drawings. The translation into English reads easily and if there are occasionally sentences or words that seem a little quaint or strange, the original French can be consulted at once on the opposite page. Every aspect of breast reconstruction is covered and if French surgical procedures are given greater emphasis or prominence, this is oerfectlv understandable. Theauthors have taken very great care with the standardisation of the clinical photographs of their patients, both in position, lighting and timing (the post-operative photographs are taken at 6 to 18 month intervals). Most of the drawings, we are told, were done “live” in the operating theatre. This is

certainly a highly commendable procedure, but many of the finished illustrations as fhey appear in the book would be en’ormously improved by spme tidying up and attention to detail in the interests of clarity. Many of them still look like sketches and suffer from a surfeit of lines which distract rather than attract attention. The book ends with a few rag-bag items, such as the correction of chest-wall defects, the use of the chest as a donor site for flaps and finally a somewhat incomplete account on the management of lymphoedema of the upper limb. The book is nicely produced and is a credit to the authors and the publishing team. I personally would prefer to have the book in either French or English rather than as a composite affair. The bibliograpliy at the end’ of the vohime is accurate and useful. Most of the spelling mistakes are in the names of various surgeons and in the nomenclature of certain operations, but these are unimportant when reviewed against the book as a whole. MICHAEL N. TEMPEST

Proportions of the Aesthetic Face. By Nelson Powell, DDS, MD, and Brian Humphreys, MD. First Edition. Pp. x+66 with numerous illustrations. (New York: Thieme-Stratton Inc., 1984.) Price DM 80. This slim volume is the first in a series of some seven monographs on various aspects of plastic and maxilla-facial surgery. This is illustrated almost entirely with line drawings and, not surprisingly, concentrates mainly on the female face. There is, at first, an analysis and comparison of various systems of cephalometric bony measurement and also photographic soft tissue measurement. This provides a useful amalgamation of standard orthodontic practice with an analysis of the contours of the upper third of the face as well but loses some of its impact as, with few exceptions, the face used throughout the book is the same. It will be interesting to see how this volume complements the future volumes on “Rhinoplasty” and “Surgery of the Mandible” which are planned and whether the aesthetic concepts described here are actually used in practice. On its own it will provide a useful addition to a library as a quick reference to various forms of analysis and also some descriptive terms. It will also be useful to anybody engaged in aesthetic surgery who wishes to make a meaningful analysis of their results and may also be useful to students of art. PETER K. B. DAVIS

The Planning of Local Plastic Operations on the Body Surface: Theory and Practice. By A. A. Limberg MD. (Translated by Dr S. Anthony Wolfe, MD.) Pp. x+635 with numerous illustrations and diagrams. (Lexington, Mass., USA: The Collamore Press, DC Heath and Company: Tunbridge Wells: Castle House Publications Ltd, 1984.) Price f46.00. This book was originally published in Russian in 1963 by the Government Publishing House for Medical Literature in Leningrad (USSR). Dr Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Limberg died in December 1974 at the age of 80 and had been for many years