Studies Genetic Toxicology and Human

the Journal of Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology, 1985, vol 5, is dedicated to the memory of Dr Samuel Pruzansky, an internationally renowned worker in the field of craniofacial malformations until his death in 1984. Among his many achievements, Dr Pruzansky organised the first international symposium on craniofacial malformations in 1959 and founded the first Center for Craniofacial Anomalies at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1967. The book contains reviews and original papers by 48 contributors from six countries and covers a wide, though by no means complete, range of clinical and experimental topics. It is divided into sections I to VI. The first includes a brief account of the life and work of Dr Pruzansky and lists his more than 190 publications. Then follows an outline of his involvement with the Center for Craniofacial Anomalies, together with reviews of techniques, such as infant cephalometric radiography, that can be used in research and as aids to diagnosis and patient management. Section III deals with growth of the cleft palate during the first five years of life, with considerations that influence the timing of surgical closure, and with velopharyngeal inadequacy in the absence of overt cleft palate. It also contains a brief but intriguing chapter reporting an unusually high frequency of non-right handedness among parents of children with right sided cleft lip (the less frequently affected side). The largest section of the book, section IV, includes accounts of both cross sectional and longitudinal cephalometric studies of various disorders, among them a detailed analysis of achondroplasia. One chapter introduces a refreshingly simple system of six measurements, taken from cephalometric radiographs, as an aid to 'quantitative dysmorphology', perhaps a useful way of sidestepping the bewildering variety of angles and dimensions that have been used in the past. Section V contains a number of clinical observations and hypotheses to explain the pathogenesis of selected syndromes, together with a description of a computerised record system for craniofacial malformations and a discussion of chromosome damage and congenital defects associated with the infamous 'Agent Orange'. The final section is devoted to experimental animal studies, the most common theme being genotype-environment interaction in the aetiology of cleft lip and palate in mice. Also included is a report of experimental fusion of the naturally cleft embryonic chick palate through surgical intervention. The book is not a medical genetics text and only occasionally is there mention of such aspects of the various syndromes as aetiological heterogeneity and genetic counselling. However, it does have a predominantly clinical orientation and so should find its widest readership among those, whatever their speciality, who work with patients having craniofacial malformations. It will also be of use to experimentalists striving towards a better understanding of the complexities of craniofacial development. The book is attractively produced, with reasonably clear line drawings and adequate half tone illustrations. Many of the chapters are likely to be of practical value to both clinicians and researchers, making the volume a fitting tribute to one whose professional life was devoted to helping patients with these disorders.