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An abstract submitted for a scientific plastic surgical meeting has several characteristics on the basis of which the abstract may be selected for presentation at the meeting. To what extent these characteristics influence the perceived overall scientific merit of the abstract is incompletely understood. We assessed the contribution of each of six characteristics: originality, number of cases, method of study, period of follow-up, justification of conclusions, and expected impact on the participants at the meeting. The ratings by four peer reviewers of the characteristics of each of 194 abstracts submitted for the 2001 annual scientific meeting of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons (EURAPS) were compared with the selection of the abstracts for the final program of the meeting. We found the characteristic 'methodology' to contribute significantly more to the selection of the abstracts on Clinical Studies than any of the other characteristics. For Basic Research abstracts all of the six characteristics were found to equally contribute to the selection for the final program. In the Aesthetic Surgery category, 'conclusion' and 'impact' were slightly more influential than other characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The architecture of European Plastic Surgery was published in 1996 [Nicolai JPA, Scuderi N. Plastic surgical Europe in an organogram. Eur J Plast Surg 1996; 19: 253–256.] It is the objective of this paper to update information of that article. Continuing medical education (CME), science, training, examination, quality assurance and relations with the European Commission and Parliament all are aspects covered by the organisations to be discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As the central and most prominent part of the human face, the nose contributes to determine the beauty of a person significantly. Certain ancient populations, particularly in India, had the common tradition to cut off a person's nose as an act of humiliation to thieves and prisoners of war or vengeance for some real or fancied wrong. To erase the signs of this cruel disfigurement, the ingenuity of surgeons conceived different solutions over the centuries, therefore the birth and evolution of plastic surgery strictly parallel the art of replacing missing noses. Nasal restoration by means of a skin flap taken from the arm is an operation of Italian origin, whereas by a skin flap taken from the forehead is an operation of Indian origin. This review highlights the development of this interesting and at the same time challenging surgical technique. Currently, the forehead flap is considered the solution of choice due to the excellent colour match. However, for the success of the repair it is essential to have the forehead flap of a correct size and shape depending on the defect. Nowadays, the operation has achieved excellent results due to the accuracy of technical details. Defects of the nasal tip require replacement of the different layers, mucosa, framework and cover. Donor areas must be carefully selected to leave minimal local morbidity, whereas recipient sites are treated aesthetically so as to obtain the most successful type of repair. In conclusion, the lesson from our forefathers has positively influenced the evolution of nasal reconstruction techniques.

There is no generally accepted method for assessing abstracts that are submitted for a medical scientific meeting. This article describes the development and prospective evaluation of such a method applied to the 220 abstracts submitted for the 2000 Annual Meeting of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons. Structured abstracts were evaluated in three categories: aesthetic surgery, basic research, and clinical study. Each anonymous abstract was assessed separately by 10 reputable European plastic surgeons. These reviewers used a structured rating questionnaire which resulted in a score given by each reviewer to each abstract between -6 and +6. The scores of all 10 reviewers were added for each abstract, and the papers were accepted in each of the three categories on the basis of this abridged score. To evaluate the reliability of this structured method of selection, the interrater agreement among the reviewers was tested by means of kappa analysis and the Cronbach alpha coefficient. The kappa values for agreement among reviewers regarding acceptability of abstracts were low, but the alpha coefficient indicated an acceptable degree of reliability of the average reviewers' ratings for all categories. Using a structured questionnaire can be helpful in the objective assessment of abstracts for a scientific meeting and may facilitate comparison of abstracts. Meritocratic dichotomy of abstracts by the reviewers is advocated to further improve reliability of the rating. Even though reliability generally increases with the number of reviewers, the annual increase of submitted abstracts may necessitate a decrease in the number of reviewers for each abstract.