200 BRITISH JOURNAL OF PLASTIC SURGERY

Fellowship Examination Papers for the Diplomas of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. 1963-1968. (Edinburgh : E. & S. Livingstone Ltd., 1969. ) 7 s.

The immediate reaction of the reviewer looking through these pages of past Fellowship Papers was one of relief that never again would he be called upon to write the answers. To those who must, they are valuable in showing the types of questions which are asked and might even be used as an aid to " spotting " their own questions in advance. The papers are those of both primary and final parts of the Fellowship and also those of the optional subjects : surgical pathology and operative surgery ; laryngology, otology and rhinology ; obstetrics and gynaecology ; and ophthalmology.

T . G .

Operations Methoden der plastisehen Chirurgie. By WOLFGANG BETHMAN and JANOg ZOLTAN. Pp. x i i + 4 2 7 , w i th 1,338 i l lustrat ions. (Jena, G e r m a n Democra t i c Republ ic , V.E.B. Gus t av F i sche r Verlag, 1968.) £8 , i i s . 5d.

This work is an atlas of operative plastic surgery aimed to provide a simple and practical guide for those who may benefit from the knowledge of modern plastic surgical techniques. To achieve this simplicity, only procedures favoured by the authors are presented and the text, which always precedes the illustrative sections, has been reduced. Nevertheless, it remains clear and more than adequate. The section on bibliography has been omitted intentionally.

The vast surgical material presented is mainly dealt with by diagrams which are clear and easily followed. Of the minor inaccuracies, only Millard's repair of the cleft lip will be mentioned ; the incision on the lateral side of the cleft is never as angled as it is represented in fig. 2207 b.

An excellent opening chapter deals with wound care and basic plastic techniques, stressing the need for atraumatic handling of tissues. The surgery of facial defects is amply illustrated and covers congenital, traumatic, neoplastic and cosmetic problems. Reconstructive procedures of trunk areas are adequately described and there is a useful chapter dealing with the surgery of the extremities.

It is a pity that so little space has been given to the ever-present problems of facial fractures ; the material is at times out-dated and incomplete. The absence of a chapter dealing with urogenital problems is also regrettable. Ill spite of these omissions, however, this work fills a gap in the available textbooks of plastic surgery and provides a simple guide to all who are faced with the need for modern plastic surgical techniques.

M. F. S.

European Surgical Research. Vol. I , No . I . (Basel : Karge r , 1969.) $16.2o pe r volume.

This new journal is the official organ of the European Society for Experimental Surgery and is provided free to members of the Society ; each volume will include four quarterly numbers.

The continuing multiplication of journals is depressing to all who make an honest attempt to keep up with the literature in their own field and it is difficult at first to appreciate the precise function which this journal will serve. One would expe2t and hope that plastic surgical research, for instance, would continue to be published in one of the journals of plastic surgery and that it would not be necessary to check journals such as that under review in case something important has been missed; surely this must be so in most branches of surgery. On the other hand, it encourages a wider dissemination of techniques of research and basic discoveries which would be valuable in avoiding the defects of too rigid and narrow specialisation.

The subjects of the articles in this issue include the long-term storage of blood by freezing, several on aspects of allogeneic transplantation, urinary flow and gastric surgery. The journal is published entirely in English and since the authors come from a number of European countries (one is from the U.S.A.), the removal of the language barrier overcomes to some extent the isolation that frontiers have previously imposed on European surgical research.

T . G .

Fortsehritte der Kiefer-und Gesiehts-Chirurgie, Vol. 13. Ed i t ed by Professor K. SCHUCHARDT. Pp. 278, wi th 176 i l lustrat ions. (S tu t tgar t : Georg T h i e m e Verlag, 1968.) D M . 144.

One looks forward each year to the unfailing publication of these Fortschritte each volume of which seems better than the last. The theme on this occasion is the treatment of oral carcinoma. There are thirty-eight original articles dealing with aspects of pathology and classification, treatment by surgical excision and the methods of surgical repair, and the use of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Each article has a short summary in English, French and Spanish and most are so well illustrated that the English summary and a sketchy knowledge of German is adequate for understanding. Because of greatly improved methods of primary reconstruction, many more cases of oral carcinoma are referred to plastic surgeons and those who have to deal with them will find this volume invaluable. The standard of printing and publication is superb.

T . G .