In a previous edition Prof Arnold Maran posed the question as to whether the whole of our speciality could be encompassed in one volume (and decided it could). This new Edition certainly meets that challenge. The modern question however is whether the traditional book has had its day and the instant access offered by the on-line version will replace it. Certainly, it is becoming increasing the rule that publishers are reluctant to send out texts for journal review and prefer to offer the e-version. Cost considerations and, maybe, the occasional failure of any response may be to blame, but this old dinosaur simply cannot stare at a monitor and read a book cover to cover. If I want to know what I should now be calling what was Churg-Struss Syndrome, I can dip into the content in seconds on my PC (or even my phone, which I am learning to use.) If however I want to judge the quality of a book, I need that book and its last edition for page-by-page comparison. I was very grateful to the publishers then for a copy of what is a very important UK text.
Fortunately, the first page did much of the review work, telling me there is now a new chapter on middle ear implantable devices, coverage of recent advances in implants, immunotherapy and monoclonal antibodies and updating of imaging and diagnostic techniques. There is a Foreword by Tim Mitchell, the first ENT surgeon to become President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and we learn that this book has now been in production for over 100 years. I doubt that endoscopic sinus surgery, robotic surgery or 3D printing featured prominently in that first edition. Musheer Hussain, a stalwart of this journal’s Editorial Board for many a year, edited the 11th Edition in 2015 and now Quentin Gardiner, again a major contributor to the JLO, joins him as editor. Quentin’s reputation in rhinology is reflected here in a significant expansion of such chapters.
Long description
TWELFTH EDITION LOGAN TURNER'S DISEASES OF THE NOSE, THROAT AND EAR HEAD AND NECK SURGERY EDITED BY S. MUSHEER HUSSAIN AND QUENTIN GARDINER CRC Press.
The list of contributors is almost a Who’s Who of UK ENT Surgery, but there also are authors from Belfast, Dublin, the Antipodes, Canada and Hong Kong. There is a nice uniform style to the chapters, with “Key Learning Points”, up to date references and “Further Reading”. The references I always think of as a mark of the extent of revision of a new edition. The majority, in most chapters, post date the 2015 Edition and that is commendable. The colour photos are plentiful and very well printed, while the monochrome scans are even better with excellent contrast and resolution. I am sure that, on-line, they would be even better and allow magnification. Fig 46.2 for example is a great image of the bony rarefaction seen in Otosclerosis of the temporal bone but is a bit small in print. A schwannoma of the Geniculate ganglion in Fig 52.2 I can certainly see, but, again, this is one time where the monitor screen has some advantages. The clinical photographs are nicely labelled, without arrows obscuring the view and I was especially pleased to see some full-face photos, without the black oblongs over the eyes, which so often ruin the image
Rhinology was generally my weak topic and always avoided as an examiner, so that section proved my favourite. In Management of Epistaxis, I saw a very convincing photo of a clipped sphenopalatine artery, a structure that I have rarely seen that well exposed (and never by me). I thought Granulomatous Diseases of the Nose quite fascinating, but, while I knew Wegener as “He Who Must Not be Named”, I was sorry to see Churg-Strauss is no more. Somehow Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis and Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA) respectively is just asking for confusion and lacks that impact I recall. The chapter carries references from 2021-3 for all but two.
This is now a sizable book, and it would need a very large pocket as a ward aid. It is a great read for the senior as much as the trainee, especially as we all increasingly subspecialise and fail to appreciate how our colleagues are progressing their fields of work
