J Cutan Pathol 2001: 28: 498–499 Copyright C Munksgaard 2001

Printed in Denmark ¡ All rights reserved Journal ofCutaneous Pathology

ISSN 0303-6987

Book reviews

Norman RA, ed. Geriatric dermatology. New York: TheParthenon Publishing Group, 2001.

Geriatric dermatology is a very easy to read introductorybook about ailments that affect the skin of elderlypatients. There is no mention of cosmetic derma-tology issues or photoaging. The book is geared to-wards primary-care physicians and dermatology resi-dents. The editor admits that Geriatric dermatology isan overview and not intended to be a comprehen-sive textbook. The book begins with a general out-look of the aging population. The second chapterpertains to people requiring long-term care and thedermatological ailments that they acquire. There isa chapter dedicated to scalp and hair disorders.There is also a chapter concerning the dermal mani-festations of diabetes. Another chapter deals withleg, foot and nail disease. Other chapters include legulcers, blistering diseases, scabies and pediculosis,and superficial mycoses. There are 11 chapters inall and the chapters are not arranged in the orderdescribed above. Recognized leaders in dermatologywrite the individual chapters. The individual chap-ters are consistent and well organized. The import-ant information is given in each chapter. There isnot much trivial knowledge presented in the book.This makes the book very practical and easy tocarry along for hospital and nursing home consul-tations. Again, the book is very reader friendly. Byway of illustration, the chapter about adverse drugreactions on the skin is arranged in alphabetical or-der according to drug reaction. Also, individualdrugs that are the most common culprits are listedat the end of each section. The blistering diseaseschapter is organized by disease entity with sectionson clinical features, pathology and treatment. Someof the chapters have a ‘‘Concluding remarks’’ sec-tion, which recount the important points.

The book is ideal for those who perform nursinghome dermatology consults. There are 164 pages.This includes a very in-depth well-organized index.There are many good quality color photos, which isalways a bonus with dermatology books. There arealso an impressive number of tables, graphs andcharts. For example, there is a protocol for perform-ing nursing home dermatology consultations. Thereis also a systematic ulcer management chart. As anaside, a great portion of the book is geared to vari-ous skin ulcers. This is expected since many elderly

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patients unfortunately procure breakdown and ulcer-ation of their skin.

Sandy Johnson

Freinkel RK, Woodley DT, eds. The biology of the skin.New York: The Parthenon Publishing Group,2001. 432 pages. Price: USD 98.00.

Many of us remember sitting through the ‘‘Structureand function’’ course at the annual dermatologymeetings. For some, the course was exciting, stimulat-ing and inspiring. For others, it was a bit like the waya child might view taking medicine. It didn’t tastevery good, but we knew it was good for us and wouldmake us better. Drs. Freinkel and Woodley have puttogether a group of authors who succeeded in writinga book that addresses much of the same material asthat traditional course while evoking much more ofthe first described response than the second. This vol-ume contains 25 short chapters addressing many as-pects of cutaneous biology. As stated in the preface,it does not aim to be a comprehensive discourse onany of these topics, but rather, to provide a frame-work upon which students, clinicians and scientistscan build. I think that the book accomplishes this goaladmirably. The book proceeds from a discussion ofbasic structure and function through a review of eachof the anatomic structures encountered in the skin,each authored by noted experts in the field. Morefunctional discussions such as aging, control of bodytemperature and cutaneous immunology follow. Thefinal chapters address the more current aspects of cu-taneous biology including cytokines, integrins, gen-etics, and oncogenes. A discussion of research tech-niques that is invaluable for the reader not intimatelyfamiliar with basic science research completes the vol-ume. Unusual for a multi-authored volume, I foundthere to be a surprising degree of uniformity in thechapters. The writing is relatively light in style with-out resorting to dense documentation and recitationof primary data. Each of the authors managed to ef-fectively summarize major developments and to paintwith broader strokes. This serves to maintain the in-terest of the non-expert reader while at the same timeproviding a good basic understanding of the field. Iespecially enjoyed reading the ‘‘Structure and func-tion’’ chapter, and those covering melanocytes, thebasement membrane zone and research methodology.

In each case, I actually found myself wanting to knowmore than the authors provided. This book coversmuch of the same material as does Goldsmith’s ‘‘Bio-chemistry and physiology of the skin’’, albeit at amuch less in-depth level, but it does so in much lessspace, a mere 432 pages and sells for only $98. I canhighly recommend this volume to dermatopatholog-ists who want to remain aware of recent develop-ments in the areas of cutaneous biology.

Bruce Smoller

Habif TP, Campbell JL, Quitadamo MJ, Zug KA.Skin disease: diagnosis and treatment. St. Louis: Mosby,2001.

The authors state that their purpose was to create acurrent and concise clinical dermatology text. Thiswas accomplished in an impressively comprehensivemanner, as this book possesses numerous outstanding

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features. To start, the opening chapter is a friendlyreview of the current trends in topical therapy. Theorganization of the subsequent chapters deserves ap-plause as the brevity of each description focuses onthe most important features of each lesion. Thus, cru-cial information is given without exhaustion and com-promise. Additionally, the discussion of each diseaseis precise, and includes pathogenesis when applicable.A caveat section is included in some of the discussionsin an attempt to emphasize pertinent pitfalls. Thetopographical maps of the human body are helpful asthey artistically document disease distribution. Unlikesome other texts, treatments for all dermatologicaldiseases presented are given. Also, clear and superiorillustrations make arrows unnecessary.

In summary, this text serves as a reliable referencefor the physician encountering dermatological dis-eases. The reader is provided with concise updatedinformation aided by spectacular photographs andrelevant information.

Erika Balfour