Scientific Program For The International Confederation Of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons

Stephen Gilbert convened the scientific program for The International Confederation of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons on the Amalfi Coast in Italy in April this year.

At this stunning location, not far from the mystical Isle of Capri and in the shadow of Mt Vesuvius on the west coast of Italy near Naples, ICAPS held one of their most successful meetings ever. It was a smaller group than usual, which encouraged searching discussion between prominent plastic surgeons from nine different countries on the latest advances and controversies in aesthetic plastic surgery.

The theme for the meeting was FACE, BODY and SOUL. The latest techniques of selective smas facelift and eyelid surgery were demonstrated together with reconstructive rhinoplasty. Mr Gilbert presented an audit of the New Zealand Institute of Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery experience with conical breast implants. Our results showed that such implants gave superior results in patients with moderate ptosis not wanting too full an upper or lower pole. A number of surgeons at the meeting said that they would be trying out these implants on their return home.

“The soul needs more space than the body” said Axel Munthe a Swedish doctor who wrote ‘The Story of San Michele”, one of the most published books of the last century which was translated into forty languages. The story was about his many patients, some royal, and his villa, which he built high on Capri and which we visited. From there we looked out over the Mediterranean Sea as he had done, before going blind, and reflected on all the souls we had helped through life and some we hadn’t been able to help.