BOOK REVIEWS
1271
ActaDV ActaDV
Advances in dermatology and venereology Acta Dermato-Venereologica
Laser and Lights, 4 th Edition by G. Hruza & E. L. Tanzi. ISBN: 978-0-3234-8006-2. Elsevier Health Sciences 2017.
The book deals with laser treatment both theoretically and from a practical point of view. Focus is on practical issues. There are also links to videos demonstrating practical handling etc.
The book is a good handbook for dermatologists practicing laser treatment both in health care and cosmetics. The chapters deal with various items from theoretical considerations to practical handling concerning vascular lesions, pigment and tattoos, hair removal, laser resurfacing, cryolipolysis, etc.
The authors state on several occasions that some procedures should be more studied from a scientific point of view. In the cosmetical field, the“ market is often ahead of science”. This is understandable as major research effort in dermatology is allocated to skin diseases, not cosmetic procedures.
The illustrations are good as are the videos but in some instances“ pre” pictures are underexposed and“ after” pictures overexposed giving a false impression of better results than is actually the case.
In summary, the book is a good practical guide to laser procedures with the good addition to videos making it easy to follow.
Olle Larkö Department of Dermatology
Sahlgrenska Academy – University of Göteborg SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
E-mail: olle. larko @ sahlgrenska. gu. se doi: 10.2340 / 00015555-2787
Genetic Skin Disorders, 3 rd edition by Virginia P. Sybert. ISBN: 978-0190276478. Hardbook cover. 488 pages. Price: £ 147.50. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
This updated textbook, which was first published in 1997, covers a huge clinical area characterized by rapidly increasing knowledge and many new diagnostic technologies. In 14 chapters, Professor Virginia Sybert of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, discusses a wide spectrum of genodermatoses, from epidermal and adnexal disorders to dermal, pigmentary, metabolic, inflammatory and immune-related genetic disorders of the skin, from a highly personal and knowledgeable perspective. Many hundreds of diseases are described in a clear manner, with specific sub-headings( e. g. Dermatologic features, Associated abnormalities, Histopathology, Basic defect, Treatment, Mode of inheritance and Differential diagnosis) that make it easy for one to find the topic of interest. In addition, each“ diagnosis” is followed by a selected bibliography with Professor Sybert’ s valuable comments on the papers.
The book is amply illustrated by more than 500 clinical pictures. These are often of good quality and are mostly in colour, but sometimes are too small to allow appropriate deciphering of phenotypic details. Perhaps one reason for this is that the layout attempts to fit the figures optimally with the text without the need to insert figure numbers. It is unfortunate that this omission makes it rather difficult for the reader to refer back from figures to text.
I like Appendix B,“ Differential diagnosis by skin signs”, in particular. Here, in 20 pages and with headings such as Primary signs, Specific lesions, Disease processes and Regional involvement, all of the diagnoses described in the book reappear under specific subheadings, such as Scaling, Vesicles / bullae, Scars, Cysts, Tumors, Hyperpigmentation, Pruritus, etc. Incidentally, only here did I find Omenn syndrome( as a short footnote). This rare congenital immunodeficiency syndrome, which is lethal unless bone marrow transplantation is promptly instituted, is a differential diagnosis to ichthyosiform erythroderma that should be better highlighted in the next edition.
In the preface, the author asks:“ Why another book on inherited skin diseases? Why a book at all in the era of Web crawlers and E-readers?” My answer is crystal clear: Without doubt, it is extremely valuable to have your textbook in the clinic’ s library when seeing patients with suspected genodermatosis.
Anders Vahlquist, Editor-in-Chief doi: 10.2340 / 00015555-2821
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. www. medicaljournals. se / acta Journal Compilation © 2017 Acta Dermato-Venereologica.
Acta Derm Venereol 2017; 97: 1271