Over the past ten years, carbon dioxide laser surgery has made impressive strides and is now applied to every field of surgery without exception. It is the intention of this book to record the work done in this field in the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Beilinson Medical Center and Tel Aviv University Medical School, Israel, as well as that performed in association with other depart ments. In this context, one feels that it is incumbent upon one to acknowledge the cooperation of the medical and paramedical staff of the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Beilinson Medical Center, as well as that of Prof. Yehuda Shindel and Dr. Daniel Katenelson of the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Dr. Y ona Tadir of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Dr. Itamar Kott of the Department of General Surgery. I should like to make special mention of Dr. Ralph Ger of New York, who worked with me on the original clinical trials, and the engineer Uzi Sharon, who developed the Sharplan Laser with me. The progress of Laser Surgery is well demonstrated by the participation in the four meetings of the International Society for Laser Surgery, the first of which was held in Tel Aviv in 1975 with an attendance of 65 and the last in Tokyo in 1981 with an attendance of 1200.
