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Year book of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery 1990
Book Reviews
263
Book Reviews Year Book of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery 1990. S. H. Miller (Ed), Year Book Medical Publishers Inc., ISBN No. 81516037 2, f39,1990, 321 pp.
Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery. S. J. Stegman, T. A. Tromovitch and R. G. Glogau, Year Book Medical Publishers Inc., ISBN No. 815 17920, f 56.50, 1990, 306 pp.
This year book surveys nearly eight hundred and fifty medical health journals and provides a comprehensive summary of outstanding papers published up to June 1989. Each paper is followed by commentaries from the Associate Editors; this gives a critical viewpoint when reading the papers. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the wide selection of journals allowing the discovery of interesting articles not published in the usual plastic surgery editing channels. The good quality black and white illustrations provide a fair documentation on a wide variety of clinical results and surgical techniques. The text is divided into seven chapters, the last one dealing with general topics (wound healing, lasers, anaesthesia, etc). In Chapter One congenital anomalies and maxillofacial surgery are well documented. Neoplastic and inflammatory diseases are discussed in Chapter Two and appear to be more a miscellanea than a rational collection. The chapter on trauma and burns is relatively complete and represents a good overview on the subjects. Upper extremities traumas (e.g. hand) are extensively treated and a thorough reading is worthwhile; however, the traumatology of the lower limbs, that accounts for a considerable part of the admissions to a general plastic surgery ward, are almost completely absent. Papers related to thermal injuries are included in this chapter and most of the burn fields are covered, the only criticism is the lack of papers dealing with research and metabolic problems. The aesthetic surgery abstracts report many good papers on face lifting, blepharoplasty and rhinoplasty. Liposuction and lipofilling are well discussed and this sub-chapter shows very well the state of the art. The fifth chapter is dedicated completely to breast surgery, and the selected papers offer the opportunity to appraise this topic from the point of view of aesthetic, premalignancies and reconstructive problems altogether. Many new flaps either pedicled or microsurgically transferred, are described in the following chapter as well as the mechanism of delay and the augmentation of skin flap survival. Tissue expanders and the related complications conclude this very interesting group of abstracts. The book deserves a diligent reading and should be kept in every plastic surgeon’s library for prompt consultation. Dino Barisoni
This is the second and updated edition of ‘Cosmetic and Dermatologic Surgery’ first published in 1984. The authors are three in number, all professors of dermatology from the University of California. They have presented a monograph that claims to be ‘A book for the dermatologist who is interested in surgery and cosmetic procedures’. At a time when an increasing number of medical specialties are developing interests in cosmetic surgery, this book should come as no surprise. This work undoubtedly stands as a harbinger of a progressive movement in dermatology from that of a medical speciality toward that of a more surgical one. The 306 page monograph is logically arranged into chapters on: general principles of office cosmetic surgery, the skin of the ageing face, benign facial lesions, chemical peels, dermabrasion, surgical management of alopecia, filling agents, surgical management of acne scarring, tattoo removal, treatment of keloids, blepharosplasty and brow lift, basic face lift, liposuction, sclerotherapy and cosmetic camouflage. Each chapter is subdivided into short sections on individual diseases, entities or diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Why the authors chose to include chapters on face lift, blepharoplasty and brow lift is not entirely clear to me, 1 would venture to guess that it is probably not to make dermatologists aware of the type of patients appropriate for referral to plastic surgeons. Although it is the editors’ stated attempt to publish a text that would provide a comprehensive and authoritative approach to cosmetic dermatologic surgery, the book falls short by not including within the bibliography many of the major contributions in the field, especially by plastic and ENT surgeons; the paucity of references may leave many readers groping for additional information about a specific subject, this however presents no problem, since there are many excellent texts that provide indepth discussion of the topics included in this book. Unfortunately the plastic surgeon will learn too little from this book, even plastic surgery residents will find the discussion of standard dermatologic techniques inadequate. They will certainly note that basic surgical techniques lack sophistication, e.g. no plastic surgeon holds his or her needle-holder between thumb and index finger as shown in one of the photographs; plastic surgeons have become accustomed to better illustrations and drawings than presented in this book. In summary, although this book may be an adequate primer for the intern considering a career in dermatology, it has little to offer the plastic and bum surgeon except, maybe, for some gems. A. M. Ban&in
0 Butterworth-Heinemann 0305-4179/91/030263-01
Ltd
263
Book Reviews Year Book of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery 1990. S. H. Miller (Ed), Year Book Medical Publishers Inc., ISBN No. 81516037 2, f39,1990, 321 pp.
Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery. S. J. Stegman, T. A. Tromovitch and R. G. Glogau, Year Book Medical Publishers Inc., ISBN No. 815 17920, f 56.50, 1990, 306 pp.
This year book surveys nearly eight hundred and fifty medical health journals and provides a comprehensive summary of outstanding papers published up to June 1989. Each paper is followed by commentaries from the Associate Editors; this gives a critical viewpoint when reading the papers. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the wide selection of journals allowing the discovery of interesting articles not published in the usual plastic surgery editing channels. The good quality black and white illustrations provide a fair documentation on a wide variety of clinical results and surgical techniques. The text is divided into seven chapters, the last one dealing with general topics (wound healing, lasers, anaesthesia, etc). In Chapter One congenital anomalies and maxillofacial surgery are well documented. Neoplastic and inflammatory diseases are discussed in Chapter Two and appear to be more a miscellanea than a rational collection. The chapter on trauma and burns is relatively complete and represents a good overview on the subjects. Upper extremities traumas (e.g. hand) are extensively treated and a thorough reading is worthwhile; however, the traumatology of the lower limbs, that accounts for a considerable part of the admissions to a general plastic surgery ward, are almost completely absent. Papers related to thermal injuries are included in this chapter and most of the burn fields are covered, the only criticism is the lack of papers dealing with research and metabolic problems. The aesthetic surgery abstracts report many good papers on face lifting, blepharoplasty and rhinoplasty. Liposuction and lipofilling are well discussed and this sub-chapter shows very well the state of the art. The fifth chapter is dedicated completely to breast surgery, and the selected papers offer the opportunity to appraise this topic from the point of view of aesthetic, premalignancies and reconstructive problems altogether. Many new flaps either pedicled or microsurgically transferred, are described in the following chapter as well as the mechanism of delay and the augmentation of skin flap survival. Tissue expanders and the related complications conclude this very interesting group of abstracts. The book deserves a diligent reading and should be kept in every plastic surgeon’s library for prompt consultation. Dino Barisoni
This is the second and updated edition of ‘Cosmetic and Dermatologic Surgery’ first published in 1984. The authors are three in number, all professors of dermatology from the University of California. They have presented a monograph that claims to be ‘A book for the dermatologist who is interested in surgery and cosmetic procedures’. At a time when an increasing number of medical specialties are developing interests in cosmetic surgery, this book should come as no surprise. This work undoubtedly stands as a harbinger of a progressive movement in dermatology from that of a medical speciality toward that of a more surgical one. The 306 page monograph is logically arranged into chapters on: general principles of office cosmetic surgery, the skin of the ageing face, benign facial lesions, chemical peels, dermabrasion, surgical management of alopecia, filling agents, surgical management of acne scarring, tattoo removal, treatment of keloids, blepharosplasty and brow lift, basic face lift, liposuction, sclerotherapy and cosmetic camouflage. Each chapter is subdivided into short sections on individual diseases, entities or diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Why the authors chose to include chapters on face lift, blepharoplasty and brow lift is not entirely clear to me, 1 would venture to guess that it is probably not to make dermatologists aware of the type of patients appropriate for referral to plastic surgeons. Although it is the editors’ stated attempt to publish a text that would provide a comprehensive and authoritative approach to cosmetic dermatologic surgery, the book falls short by not including within the bibliography many of the major contributions in the field, especially by plastic and ENT surgeons; the paucity of references may leave many readers groping for additional information about a specific subject, this however presents no problem, since there are many excellent texts that provide indepth discussion of the topics included in this book. Unfortunately the plastic surgeon will learn too little from this book, even plastic surgery residents will find the discussion of standard dermatologic techniques inadequate. They will certainly note that basic surgical techniques lack sophistication, e.g. no plastic surgeon holds his or her needle-holder between thumb and index finger as shown in one of the photographs; plastic surgeons have become accustomed to better illustrations and drawings than presented in this book. In summary, although this book may be an adequate primer for the intern considering a career in dermatology, it has little to offer the plastic and bum surgeon except, maybe, for some gems. A. M. Ban&in
0 Butterworth-Heinemann 0305-4179/91/030263-01
Ltd