30 Years after the First Edition, the Publication of the book “DERMATOLOGIA. FICHEIRO CLÍNICO E TERAPÊUTICO” [DERMATOLOGY. CLINICAL AND THERAPEUTIC FILES] by F. Guerra Rodrigo, M. Marques Gomes, A. Mayer-da-Silva and Paulo L. Filipe – pub. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2010. 

On the 12th of March 2010 the launching of this book, published in memory of Professor Juvenal Esteves (1909-1996), took place in the FMUL Aula Magna, organised by the University Clinics of Dermatology and Medicine I and presided over by Professor José Fernandes e Fernandes, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (FMUL).

The first edition was launched in 1980 and the second in 1992. The four authors have taken three years to prepare this updated textbook, which by definition is not a research work but a compendium on stratified issues for understanding the essential aspects of this specialty. One of those responsible for the work Professor Guerra Rodrigo, told news@fmul that this section was not exactly a formal homage. Indeed, the book has been launched with the idea of paying homage to Professor Juvenal Esteves, author of the previous book, and it is also dedicated to him.

Homage to Professor Juvenal Esteves
After the opening of the session by Professor Marques Gomes, it was the turn of Professor Braz Nogueira to speak, praising and eulogising the spirit of collaboration existing between the University Clinics of Medicine I and of Dermatology. “I consider this work to be an asset for dermatologists, doctors and in particular interns, because, as you know, dermatological pathology is extremely important in the daily life of internal medicine. It will without any doubt become a reference for our students”, stressed Professor Gomes, head of the curricular area of Medicine I, 4th Year.

Following this, Professor José Fernandes e Fernandes, Dean of the FMUL, recalled Juvenal Esteves, highlighting his role in renewing university medical teaching, describing traits of his personality as a man of culture and his relationships with the major personalities of his time. “It was with Professor Juvenal Esteves that the clinical teaching of this subject started in an independent manner. In 1951 the first course in dermatology was starting,” he stated. “Juvenal Esteves was a Master in Anamnesis and Physical Examination. A Master in perfect human relations because he knew better than most how to chat to the patient,” Professor José Fernandes e Fernandes recalled for the audience.
Then in his speech Professor Ducla Soares located the role of the text books in today’s medical learning. Within the field of contemporary technological means, when one increasingly uses partial sources such as Pubmed, he reflected upon the role of the medical book today. For Professor Ducla Soares “the virtues of the book depend on two dimensions: the notion of space and of time, which make the book an excellent medium for discourse and argument, and also allows one to homogeneously set out the internal cohesion of the aspects dealt with”.

The Organisation and the Layout of the Didactic Work
Later in the session, Professor Guerra Rodrigo explained the organisation of the new dermatology book, stressing its nature as a didactic work, providing succinct and objective information, presented in a clear and useful manner for direct consultation. He showed the layout of the book, which begins with a set of subjects titled the skin-organ, with individual entries on structure, functions and clinical method in dermatology. Then there is a second group termed dermatoses, corresponding to 227 entries in alphabetical order, most of which are about well-defined clinical entities, but others of which are about inter-related groups of identities, entries relative to regional pathology and then others about common pathogen affections.

As for the layout adopted for the clinical entities, particular care was taken over the etiopathogenic basis in order to then establish the necessary clinical-pathological correlation. It is also of interest to state that the clinical attitude and therapy are set out at the end of each reading entry.

The following group corresponds to surgical and physical agent therapies – cards on conventional surgery, criosurgery, electrotherapy, phototherapy, laser therapy and radiotherapy.

Then there are entries on antisepsis, protection and hygiene, fundamental areas in current dermatological knowledge, and items on decorative dermatology. Finally there is a set of 235 entries on medicinal drugs, also in alphabetical order, that are used in systemic and topic dermatological therapeutics, stressing the importance that it continues to have in the treatment of skin affections.

A Book with an Interactive CD
At the end, Dr. Mayer-da-Silva demonstrated the practical workings of the CD-ROM that comes with the book and which contains the whole of the work, including pictures and photographs of a high technical quality. Besides permitting easy reading of the texts, the CD provides interactive consultation with the simultaneous, successive window opening of clinical files and files on systemic or topic action drugs, as well as files on an extensive glossary. The hyperlinks provided are set out in the text in different colours for each of these types of consultation: red for the designations of clinical entities; blue for the designations of drugs; green for designations of the glossary. This layout allows complete and rapid consultation on the matters chosen, and there is also the possibility to consult the terms of an extensive remissive index and to directly access a given page that the reader might wish to open.

From left to right: Professor Brás Nogueira; Professor Fernandes e Fernandes, Professor Doutor Francisco Guerra Rodrigo, Dr Mayer-da-Silva, Professor Marques Gomes, and Professor Ducla Soares

Carlos André
Editorial Team news@fmul
carlos.andre@campus.ul.pt