100 Cases in Dermatology PDF

PREFACE

Dermatology is a broad and hugely enthralling specialty, where a clinician can actually visualize disease patterns up close - ‘in the flesh'. In many ways dermatology is the art of the ‘old-fashioned physician' who relies on careful history-taking and a thorough examination to make the majority of diagnoses. For the non-specialist, dermatological ‘spot' diagnoses made through pattern-recognition alone can be challenging; therefore, this book strives to offer ‘classic' presentations of common skin disorders through the fundamental tools of medicine - namely, a detailed history and observed clinical signs.

Part of the fascination with dermatological disorders is the ability of a physician to diagnose systemic disease through the observation of changes in the skin. Consequently, the accurate recognition of skin disorders is pertinent to all physicians in whatever field of medicine/surgery they are practising. Therefore, the cases selected in this book mainly reflect the interface between internal medicine and dermatology. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words; therefore, we hope that the clinical photographs accompanying each case will speak for themselves in many more words than we would ever be permitted to write.