Salivary Gland Disorders and Diseases: Diagnosis

If you would like to submit a book to the Annals for review, please send two copies to: Publications Department, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 35–43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE. Book reviews are published at the discretion of the editor. doi 10.1308/003588413X13629960046750

Salivary Gland Disorders and Diseases: Diagnosis and Management

A History of Organ Transplantation EXTENT P/H

556 pages, hardback

PATRICK J BRADLEY, ORLANDO GUNTINAS-LICHIUS

PRICE/ISBN

£57.95 9780822944133

PUBLISHER

University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh), 2012

REVIEWER

Neville Jamieson

STAR RATING

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EXTENT P/H

504 pages, hardback

PRICE/ISBN

£136.99 9783131464910

PUBLISHER

Thieme (Stuttgart), 2011

REVIEWER

Nimesh Patel

STAR RATING

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This book is edited by two well known ear, nose and throat surgeons who are experts in the field. It is genuinely international in its chapter authorship. The style is more that of a traditional narrative rather than of an evidence-based series of chapters. Despite having contributions by numerous authors, it has been well edited with a coherent style and minimisation of repetition. The chapters are well laid out and none of them are excessively long. The tables, summary boxes, and tips and tricks are very helpful. The flowcharts and algorithms are clear. The book is in colour; the diagrams are good but some of the photographs lack definition. The subject matter is covered in detail, and the basic science is well done and up to date. Treatment principles are expressed clearly and dealt with comprehensively. Surgical techniques are well described but this is not a surgical atlas. There is plenty in this book to appeal to both senior trainees and consultants. Anyone with a serious interest in the field would benefit from reading this text.

450

Book Reviews.indd 450

DAVID HAMILTON

David Hamilton was involved in transplant surgery in Glasgow and later became a medical historian at St Andrews. He is well placed to write this history as he was one of those involved in the field as it evolved from scientific pipe dream to reality in the later years of the 20th century. The book is well written and presented, and the text is comprehensive, detailing the development of the underlying science and the frequently impetuous behaviour of the pioneering surgeons anxious to push forward with clinical application despite the misgivings of their laboratory-based scientific colleagues, which resulted at times in triumphant success and sometimes in dismal failure. It describes the development of plastic surgical techniques found in ancient Indian works and John Hunter’s early scientific transplant work on the 18th-century practice of tooth transplantation, culminating in the discovery of one of the later potential hazards of transplantation when syphilis was transferred to a recipient along with the tooth. The possibility of vascularised grafts resulting from the contributions of Carrel and Guthrie to vascular anastomosis (rewarded by the Nobel Prize in 1912) is described, as are Carrel’s early transplant experiments and their variable outcomes, together with the beginnings of some early understanding of the crucial principles of immunology. The Second World War marks a quickening of the pace of scientific and surgical development, setting the scene for the beginnings of successful mismatched human kidney transplants in the 1960s. Eventually, the heart was transplanted successfully despite the false start offered by the initial success of Christian Barnard and the series of subsequent failures this prompted. All of this is beautifully described and thoroughly referenced, and the tensions and synergies between scientists and surgeons are entertainingly presented.

Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2013; 95: 450–455

09/08/2013 10:36:21