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Dermatology textbooks exist in abundance. They include classics, such as Lever’s
Histopathology of the Skin, which have gone through several editions, as well as
a burgeoning number of newer titles. They have served practitioners of pathology
and dermatology well. However, the diagnosis and treatment of deadly dermatologic
disorders remains a relatively unexamined topic. In Deadly Dermatologic
Diseases, we have attempted to address this void in the literature. A wide variety
of dermatologic entities are capable of directly leading to or are associated with
serious medical consequences, including death. Because entities present in a
variety of clinical and pathologic guises or represent emerging pathogens (such
as anthrax or smallpox), it is important that clinicians and pathologists are
apprised of and able to quickly recognize and treat these important public health
concerns. This book is comprised of disorders capable of causing the death of
the patient.
The book is organized in four sections dealing with dermatologic diseases:
serious cutaneous malignancies, including merkel cell carcinoma and paraneoplastic
syndromes such as paraneoplastic pemphigus; life-threatening and/or
emerging infectious pathogens, including anthrax and smallpox; endocrinologic
disorders such as calciphylaxis; and, lastly, inborn errors of metabolism or lifethreatening
genodermatoses, such as ataxia telangiectasia. Each section of the
book is organized alphabetically for easy reference. Approximately 50 disease
states are discussed with accompanying full-color clinical and microscopic photographs.
Each entity contains clinical photographs accompanied by photomicrographs
detailing the diagnostic features of each case. Subsections detailing
the demographic attributes, etiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, pathologic
features, diagnostic adjuncts, treatment, and prognosis with a current
bibliography of each disease state presented in a succinct bullet-style manner.
Although comprehensive by design, this textbook is by no means exhaustive in
scope. Several entities rarely capable of causing death or that are extremely
uncommon have not been included due to space constraints.
This book should become a shelf reference work for primary care clinicians,
including general practitioners and internists, dermatologists, and pathologists,
who are responsible for the diagnosis of skin biopsy specimens. The book might
also serve as a potential study source for dermatology and pathology residents
preparing for board examinations and dermatopathologists in training. |
