Jitendar P Vij

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© 2004, Virendra N Sehgal

All rights reserved. No part of this publication should be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author and the publisher.

First Edition: 1992

Second Edition: 1994

Third Edition: 2001

Fourth Edition: 2004

Typeset at JPBMP typesetting unit

Printed at Lordson Publishers (P) Ltd, C-5/19, RP Bagh, Delhi 110 007

The intriguing assignment derived considerable inspiration from the students demand to have a textbook relevant to Indian context. This objective was the major commitment and was met through the cooperation extended by the faculty of the department of dermatology and venereology. Their efforts to identify the clinical conditions for photographs, which form the major visuals to illustrate the description in the text, are appreciated. Professor KB Logni's support to provide photomicrographs is indeed laudable and has enriched the description of clinical entities. These pictures were meticulously prepared by a band of dedicated persons in the Resource Centre for Medical Education and Technology. They also helped in designing the format for the chapters. The attractive cover was also designed by the pre-eminent centre. All in all, the textbook speaks for itself for the excellence of the centre which has been continuously groomed for the purpose by Dr Sambit Nath Bhattacharya, Senior Resident, Dermatology and Venereology, who goes into the finest details to improve the day to day performance. Sincere gratitudes are expressed to Blackwell Publishing/Synergy for the permission to reproduce a few tables and photographs from the author's articles.

Dermatology is one of the unique disciplines of medicine, where a disease expresses itself over the skin and/or mucous membrane. The characteristic morphological features, configuration, and distribution is precise enough to make a clinical diagnosis. Accordingly, the text has been profusely illustrated by clinical photographs to add to visual dimension of dermatoses. Furthermore, it has been supplemented by an up-to-date information on the probable etiology of the diseases. Besides, it carries a vital component in the form of current concepts of treatment of the diseases. Clinical Dermatology, therefore, should be able to fill a perceptible void in the speciality. This should not only be useful to the under- and postgraduates, but also to the practising physicians. Certainly, it will be of considerable value to all those who are interested in knowing about the pattern of dermatoses in Indian subcontinent.

Understandably, the preceding edition had its share of an excellent performance with the consumers. This is possibly because of meticulously designed contents, which were esuriently appreciated. Currently, the book is out of stock inspiring to bring in yet another edition that too after a short time of the publication. It has evoked tremendous instinct to formulate the guidelines to update its chapters and also to add a few more to meet the ever-increasing requirements of the consumers. In addition to sharpening the existing contents, an endeavor to incorporate innovations has been made. Several chapters namely, alopecia androgenetica, alopecia areata, cicatricial alopecia, and localized scleroderma/morphea are now its part component. The addition of polyarteritis nodosa may decorate it further. The long cherish desire of the readers has amicably been met by inclusion of short and crisp chapter on leprosy and syndromic (symptomatic) approach of sexually transmitted disease. The acceptability of the book has considerably been augmented by several depictive colored illustrations across the book. In addition, miscellaneous dermatoses should further enrich and supplement the contents of the book.