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The Handbook of Cryosurgery is a collection of articles on cryosurgery written by physicians in the various specialties that employ this technique (dermatology, general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, proctology, and urology), veterinarians who use cryosurgery, an immunologist (who is also the editor of the book), and a nonphysician who works for an Italian equipment manufacturer. Many of the authors are renowned authorities in their respective fields, but throughout the book, authors are identified not by their degrees and professional titles but merely by the institutions (or companies) with which they are associated.
The articles by Dr Andrew Gage on "Oral Disease" and "Pilonidal Disease" are examples of the high quality of some contributions. The chapter on "Basic Considerations of the Cryolesion" is an example of a deficient and misleading chapter. Unproved theories are presented as fact, and poorly written, difficult to interpret passages such as the following are included: