Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Master
Class
Plastic surgery founding
father Ivo Pitanguy, MD,
on life, learning, and legends
By Lee Seng Khoo, MB, CHB, MRCS Ed, and Vasco Senna-Fernandes, MD, PhD
vo Pitanguy, MD, was born in 1926 in
Minais Gerais, Brazil. The son of a general surgeon, Pitanguy followed in his
fathers footsteps. He studied under J.J.
Longacre, MD, of Cincinnati; Marc Iselin,
MD, of Paris; and Sir Archibald McIndoe
and his cousin, Sir Harold Gillies, in the
United Kingdom.
Upon his return to Brazil, Pitanguy set
up the first hand surgery service in Latin
America at the 19th Infirmary at the Santa
Casa General Hospital in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. He also became the head of the
Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery
at Souza Aguiar Hospital
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In 1960, Pitanguy
opened the 38th Infirmary
Department of Plastic and
Reconstructive Surgery in
Rio de Janeiro, where it
continues to serve some
of the countrys most disadvantaged citizens. The
38th Infirmary, in conjunction with the Clinica
Ivo Pitanguy, are Centers
of Excellence for the trainIvo Pitanguy, MD
ing of international plastic
surgeons.
At 88, the Michelangelo of the scalpel
oversees a staff of 70 at the Clinica Ivo
Pitanguy. Here, he shares much of what he
has learned during his lengthy and legendary career.
PlasticSurgeryPractice.com
the scarring was not considered important. To fight to have a normal appearance
was not considered necessary in that era.
And it was at that time that I realized I
wanted to improve my knowledge to be
able to perform surgery to restore not
just form and function, but also a normal
appearance.
At that time, there were no formal
residency programs in plastic surgery. We
had to learn by going to different places. I
went to learn under Dr John Longacre, a
distinguished plastic surgeon in Cincinnati
who also worked with Sir Harold Gillies in
London. This was in the 1950s. I realized
I liked the detail and creativity that could
allow the surgeon to restore an appearance
closer to normality. This is what plastic
surgery is all about.
I returned to Brazil and worked in
many hospitals and services trying to apply
the various flaps and techniques that I
learned. However, I felt I needed to learn
more. I went to France to learn under Marc
Iselin, a hand surgeon, and others in Paris.
After my stint in France, I won a scholarship from the British Council and went to
England to learn under Sir Harold Gillies.
It was here that I met David Ralph Millard,
Jr, MD, a visiting surgeon in England. I
also studied under Sir Archibald McIndoe,
who instilled the importance of aesthetic
surgery in me. At that time, aesthetic surgery was not taught in public hospitals
just private practices, where Dr McIndoe
and many others were kind enough to
invite and teach me.
When I returned to Brazil, I felt that I
had a responsibility to share the knowledge that I gained from the masters. I
believed that aesthetic surgery should not
only be available to the elite, but to
everyone. A deformity should not just be
judged by its appearance. The psychological impact also matters.
21