Book Review: Plastic Surgery, 3rd Edition: Volume 5: Breast

Abstract

James Grotting , ed. Breast. 3rd ed. Plastic Surgery; vol 5. Peter C. Neligan , series ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2012. ISBN-10: 1455710563. ISBN-13: 978-1455710560. The arrival of the latest edition of the most hallowed plastic surgery textbook series is an auspicious occasion. The day I matched in plastic surgery, I bought “McCarthy.” How I loved that regal green binding and the heavily serifed fonts, which harkened back to the old world of Viennese medical education! Doing credit to the legendary dynasty of Drs Converse and McCarthy is a Herculean task, and Plastic Surgery series editor Dr Peter C. Neligan and volume 5, Breast , editor Dr James Grotting do not disappoint. This impressive volume (the third edition) is much larger than the original edition; the book explodes with colorful illustrations and beautiful photos, and each page is marked with indices at the top. Although I was obviously excited by my initial McCarthy purchase, the books ended up being of little use, as they contained too much history and not enough practical information about the field. For instance, the cleft lip chapter was extensive but did not provide information necessary to be prepared in the operating room. The chapter featured 1 old drawing of a cleft lip repair, one following adhesion. I was astounded that this ostensibly authoritative book did not clearly show the steps of the operation. With this new edition, I was excited to realize how far we have come in our specialty and how much the editors have improved this volume. Each textbook of the newly edited Plastic Surgery series is $285; the price for the entire 6-volume … Corresponding Author: Steven Teitelbaum, MD, FACS, 1301 20th Street, #350, Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA. E-mail: steve{at}drteitelbaum.com