The publication of this reference book on volume enhancement in aesthetic surgery is timely. Volume replacement, whether with fat, fillers, or permanent implants, plays a key role in rejuvenation and beautification of the face and body. This book gives a comprehensive overview of current practice in volume enhancement, prepared and presented by international experts in plastic and aesthetic surgery.
The opening chapter describes the paradigm shift that has occurred in our understanding of ageing from a problem of excess and ptosis to a process of involution and deflation. With this understanding has come a new emphasis on volume replacement techniques and a shift away from relying on excisional techniques alone.
The book is divided into four broad sections: face, breast, extremities, and buttocks and trunk. The majority of the chapters are practical, richly illustrated and include numerous photographs of both the procedures and postoperative results. In the section on the face, there is an emphasis on volume restoration with fillers, midface contouring, autologous fat grafting, alloplastic implants, and the use of grafts in rhinoplasty techniques.
The breast section of the text includes chapters on fat grafting, silicone implants, and flaps used for augmentation or volume correction. A chapter on oncological considerations of fat transfer to the breast summarises research and experience to date and comes to reassuring conclusions given the increasing demand amongst patients for autologous fat grafting for breast augmentation.
The chapters on hand rejuvenation describe the volume changes that occur with age, including muscle atrophy and fat loss over the dorsum. The technique of volume restoration with fat is described in detail by the pioneer of structural fat grafting. Further chapters on calf augmentation using implants and fat are presented.
The final section includes chapters on buttock augmentation and contouring using implants, dermal and myocutaneous flaps, and free fat transfer. The latter I found to be most useful and the author convinces us with his exceptional results that fat is a viable alternative to implants provided there is enough fat to harvest. The final chapter of the book describes high definition liposculputure, a procedure that combines ultrasound-assisted liposuction with large volume fat grafting.
Although most of the contributors are plastic surgeons, any doctor or surgeon who performs cosmetic procedures is bound to pick up some pearls and useful tips by perusing the pages of this relevant book.
