Principles and Practice of Clinical Virology. 2nd Edition

concerning wound closure, congenital malformation, and neoplasia. The chapter on wound closure is especially informative as it defines, describes, and diagrams the skin grafts and tissue flaps that have revolutionized plastic surgery in the past ten years. The bulk of the text covers specific topics, first concerning congenital and developmental anomalies and, thereafter, divided by regions of the body. Special emphasis is devoted to head and neck and hand surgery. There is only one chapter on burns, but it is superbly written by Drs. Robson and Smith. The final section discusses new techniques in plastic surgery, notably suction lipectomy, microvascular techniques, laser surgery, and tissue expansion. The chapter on microvascular techniques is excellent, as it relates current cell biology research to the development of these delicate surgical procedures. The volumes contain many large black-and-white photographs of patients as well as countless tables and anatomical drawings; they are generally of adequate quality. Both the table of contents and the index are complete. Overall, the strength of this work lies in its text. The authors have succeeded in combining the latest basic science research with review articles and standard operative technique. All the chapters begin with the pertinent significance, historical background, anatomy, embryology, and pathophysiology before discussing the specific subject matter. While the individual chapters are written by different contributors, it is evident that the authors made great efforts to maintain continuity throughout. Despite the high quality of this work, the question is, who is the audience? Plastic surgeons already have several outstanding textbooks to read. Surgical house staff would probably choose the more concise Grabb and Smith, whereas the practicing plastic surgeon would invariably invest in the eight-volume classic by McCarthy. I recommend this textbook, but I suspect that most surgeons making an investment would still opt for one of the established standards.