In the University Dermatology and Venereology Clinic the university vocation (research as a form of renewing knowledge; teaching as a form of transmitting and spreading knowledge; preserving as a form of keeping the evolution of the flow of knowledge clear) has always been present since its foundation, alongside the medical aid component. One of the ways of transmitting and diffusing knowledge, both in support for teaching and for technical, specifically medical, training, also being a form of a future memory of the state of knowledge at a given moment, is the production of books.

Over the years in clinical practice, excluding theses, several works of a techno-didactic and pedagogical nature have been produced. Of particular note, in the nineteen eighties, are: “Dermatologia” by Juvenal Esteves, Poiares Baptista, Guerra Rodrigo and Manuel Marques Gomes, and “Micologia Médica” by Juvenal Esteves and Júlia Cabrita, both published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and included in the university manuals collection. Of these, the first one had three editions, with a total of 6,000 books sold. Two editions of “Manual do Policlínico – Dermatologia” were also published, directed by Manuel Marques Gomes under the supervision of Juvenal Esteves. The nineteen nineties saw the publication of the manual “A Enfermagem na Dermatologia”, a collaboration work under the supervision of F. Guerra Rodrigo.

Awareness of the need for a work with an essentially utilitarian nature, being succinct and easy to consult, in order to solve the clinical aspects of day-to-day activity in the field of venereology led to the publication of the book “Doenças Transmitidas Sexualmente”, by F. Guerra Rodrigo and A. Mayer da Silva (Edições Lidel, 2003). The text was drawn up based on the training, experience and dermatological view of its authors.

In 2007 the work “Infecções e Infestações Cutâneas” by F.Guerra Rodrigo, A Mayer da Silva and L. Soares de Almeida was published (Edições Lidel, 2007), a book about little known matters in which the references are dispersed and difficult to locate and research. It stands as a practical book intended for doctors and other health technicians, as well as medicine students.

In 2010 the book “Dermatologia. Ficheiro Clínico e Terapêutico”, by F. Guerra Rodrigo, M. Marques Gomes, A Mayer da Silva and Paulo L. Filipe is published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. This extensive work, with 1,462 pages, is profusely illustrated with colour photographs and graphs, and is accompanied by a CD-ROM that contains the whole work, with interactive consultation and research and intuitive use. The work is an important study and consultation document, with a target readership of doctors and medicine students at faculties of medicine. It shows a didactic simplicity and clarity in its texts, with succinct and objective information that is easy to consult, as well as with a coherence of structure and content.

The present book is dedicated to Juvenal Esteves (1909-1996), and comes about as the fruit of experience and as a product that has matured out of the activities carried out by its authors at the University Dermatology Clinic of Lisbon, and follows on from and replaces the previous manual, “Dermatologia”.

A. Mayer da Silva