Textbook of Dermatologic Surgery

Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, May, 2008 by James M. Spencer

Textbook of Dermatologic Surgery

by Luigi Rusciani MD and Perry Robins MD Piccin Nuova Libraria S.p.A.; 2008 [euro] 379,000, 960 pages. ISBN: 9788829918980

Reviewed by James M. Spencer MD MS

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Dermatologic surgery is now a major component of dermatology, with an increasingly complex skill set and knowledge base required for contemporary practice. Despite the importance of surgery to residents and practitioners alike, the standard encyclopedic texts of dermatology devote surprisingly little to this area.

Textbook of Dermatologic Surgery, edited by Luigi Rusciani MD and Perry Robins MD, represents a significant achievement; a scholarly reference text that will find an important place in every dermatologist's library. This 2-volume book covers all aspects of dermatologic surgery in a readable, well-illustrated manner. The first volume thoroughly covers all fundamental aspects of cutaneous surgery and proceeds through a lengthy section on special considerations by regional anatomy followed by an excellent section on cutaneous oncology. The second volume covers special topics and cosmetic surgery.

The text is extensive and encyclopedic, and I think greatly strengthened by a truly international list of authors. The various chapters have been written by faculty from all parts of the world, with a particularly heavy representation from Europe. This international perspective affords the reader a wider perspective than is customarily seen in dermatology texts in the US.

The first volume covers all fundamental aspects of dermatologic surgery which was written in a clear style free of jargon and will be a useful reference source for beginning surgeons as well as experienced practitioners. Following a complete discussion of the fundamentals of cutaneous surgery, there are a series of chapters covering special considerations by anatomic area, such as eyelid surgery or surgery of the nail unit. A third section covers cutaneous oncology in depth,

The second volume begins with chapters covering curettage and electrodessication, cryosurgery, and other techniques used by the dermatologic surgeon. However, the bulk of the second volume covers cosmetic techniques. This volume is particularly enhanced by its international authors. For example, the chapter on fillers covers multiple fillers available in Europe, but not the US, and thus is a much more complete chapter on the topic.

Depending on one's opinion of the educational value of repetition, there is one feature that either detracts from or en-hances this excellent effort and that is redundancy. Redundancy is a common pitfall in multiauthor texts where different authors cover the same material in overlapping chapters. For example, there are stand alone chapters on the various types of flaps used for reconstruction following skin cancer surgery. Despite this coverage, the chapter on squamous cell carcinoma contains descriptions of flaps used in excisional surgery, clearly an unnecessary redundancy in the face of lengthy chapters elsewhere that more thoroughly cover the topic. However, this repetition allows the reader to easily find in depth or light coverage of any topic of interest in dermatologic surgery from the full array of chapters in this text, depending on the reader's time and needs.

A feature common to all hooks is that by the time the text goes through review, publication, and distribution, the material in the text is at least 1 or 2 years old. This means cutting edge developments can never be included in a text. An otherwise complete section on cosmetic laser therapy makes no mention of fractional laser systems. Staying current is the role of medical journals, while texts provide in depth coverage of the important topics in dermatologic surgery. This valuable 2-volume text will be an irreplaceable resource for any practice in dermatologic surgery.