Mike Murphy's Blog

Prof. William H. Reid, FRCS.

It is with some considerable sadness that I announce the death of Prof William (Bill) Reid, Plastic Surgeon.

Bill Reid was a plastics and burns surgeon who worked in the Canniesburn Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Glasgow up until his retirement in 1996. He was a well-respected surgeon for his ground-breaking work and dedication.

In 1981 Bill approached Prof. John Evans in the Bioengineering Unit, Strathclyde University and discussed the use of lasers in the treatment of port wine stains in children. At that time, there was no real treatment for these very disfiguring and progressive conditions.

John Evans agreed that this would be possible given the recent developments of laser technology. But, they decided that they needed some clinical and histological experience with lasers in the skin, since there was very little data at that time (aside from carbon dioxide and argon lasers).

They decided that ‘learning on the job’ with young children was not a good idea, so they opted to treat tattoos instead. These were seen as benign and self-inflicted. In particular, they want to figure out how to remove them without scarring. This was very important in the later research into paediatric PWS – leaving children with scars was no better than leaving them with PWS!

The first publication of this ground-breaking research in 1983

John Evans looked at the research up to that point – Leon Goldman had attempted to remove tattoos using a long-pulsed ruby laser in 1967. Unfortunately, the results were not so good – too much tissue damage in the skin. John realised that the very short pulses generated by Q-switches in ruby lasers would be much more effective and less damaging to the surrounding skin.

So, they decided to pursue this research path eventually showing that successful, scar-free tattoo removal was indeed possible using the proper technology, by 1983 (see paper below). They continued their laser research after buying two of Candela’s original pulsed dye lasers, when I joined the research program (in 1986).

The publication I co-authored in 1990 describing our 9-year experiences

The funny thing is that the tattoo removal research was almost an ‘aside’!! It was simply a way to gather experience with lasers in the skin. The treatment of blood vessels in children was much more important to Bill.

I remember him as a ‘chuckler’ – he liked a good joke. I also remember arguing with him many times about putting little kiddies under a full general anaesthetic for such a simple, short procedure. His answer was always the same “it stops the little shits from wriggling around!” Needless to say, he was the boss, so he was always right!!

He also told me that, in the olden days before the Q-switched ruby came along, he used to present tattoo removal results using the standard surgical method (scalpels!!) at medical conferences around the world. He said that they used to compare scars!! “This is quite a good flat scar” he would say, “but this one is awful.” He showed me photos of these results once – I was appalled. “But”, he said, “these were the best results we could generate back then!”

He was my teacher and my mentor, and I thank him dearly.

So, if you make your living out of laser tattoo removal, then I will ask you to raise a glass in memory of the ‘Father’ of this technique. He was the person who started it all, back in 1981, along with John Evans. But it was merely a means to an end – he really wanted to help young children, and make their lives better. And he did.

RIP Bill Reid.

Mike.