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Mercy Mission: all aboard with Mercy Ships off the coast of West Africa

Countries along the coast of West Africa are amongst the poorest in the world. Extreme levels of poverty often lead to poor outcomes or fatalities in many medical conditions that would be eminently treatable, with good outcomes in more developed...

From PIP to DC-CIK to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice: a medico-political minefield

Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) was a French company that manufactured silicone breast implants that were surgically implanted mainly for cosmetic breast augmentation. Of note, ‘cosmetic’ is used in the strict sense of the word meaning false and artificial and does...

Masculinisation of the male face – ‘power-face’ surgery

What do men want when seeking facial improvement? Authors from the world-renowned European Face Centre explore the modern approach to ‘power-face’ surgery. A growing number of men are seeking the ‘ideal face’ for physical and psycho-social reasons. Orthofacial surgery aims...

Brazilian butt lift: large volume fat grafting with water jetstream assisted liposuction

Liposculpture involving fat transfer to the buttocks (‘Brazilian butt lift’) has experienced a dramatic increase in demand in recent years. Popular tabloid celebrities have fuelled the demand for this procedure, resulting in large numbers of patients requesting buttock enhancement surgery....

The First World War and the Development of Facial Surgery

Facial surgery has a history stretching to antiquity, but its success depended on luck until medical science had advanced enough to deal with three major issues – infection, surgical shock from blood loss and good anaesthesia. It was not until...

Clitoral reconstructive surgery after female genital cutting

Female genital mutilation / cutting (FGM/C), aka female circumcision, is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “All procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons” [1]. Practised in Africa and other...

Plastic surgery and safety issues: a patient perspective

Patient safety in the unregulated world of cosmetic plastic surgery is now an extremely serious global issue. The media is always ready to sensationalise disasters but what can be done to prevent them? One key issue is the concept of...

The origin of the Children’s Burns Club

Burn injuries can affect any of us or our families at any time. A momentary lapse in attention can lead to a lifetime of scarring. Whilst any individual member of a family group can be physically scarred, all the family...

The Challenge of Renaissance, not Reconstruction: the aftermath of an acid attack

What madness makes a human being perpetrate a crime that is so horrible, so evil that makes it a capital offense (in Bangladesh) even though the death involved is of a person who remains alive? The motivation behind an interpersonal...

Facial veins – diagnosis and treatment options

Facial veins can be treated with a wide range of aesthetic and surgical procedures. Victoria Smith and Professor Mark Whiteley, both experts in the area, provide a comprehensive overview of diagnosis and the different treatment options available. Patients with unwanted...