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© 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd •

Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology

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Book reviews

Blackwell Science, Ltd

Book reviews

Treatment of skin disease. Comprehensive therapeuticstrategies. MG Lebwohl, WR Heymann, J berth-jones, ICoulson. Mosby, London. ISBN 0-7234-3198-1. pp 693.£99·95 2002

This text has an ambitious aim – to provide the published evidencefor recognized treatments of the full range of dermatologicaldisorders. Each chapter considers all the published and recognizedtreatments for one skin disease or group of skin diseases, withan emphasis on evidence-based medicine. Each treatment isgraded A-E, with A being a treatment that has been confirmedas effective by an ideally designed, placebo-controlled trial.

The Editors have been assisted by more than 150 experts intheir fields who are the authors of the individual 213 chapters.This is a most impressive Who’s Who of international dermato-logy. With so many authors, there is bound to be a little variationin quality from chapter to chapter but this variety is more astrength than a weakness. The book also benefits from goodillustrations. As the Editors themselves recognize in the Preface,the published evidence to support many every day treatments ofvery common diseases is skimpy. This is particularly true withregard to non-pharmacological, non-interventional treatments,such as the general advice given to patients with rosacea orpsoriasis. Because these often helpful measures have beenrelatively neglected in the journals, they do not attract sufficientattention in this book. For example, the physicianly counsellingfor rosacea patients and the oily fish diet for psoriasis are noteven accorded a grading, even an E. This small criticism doesnot detract overmuch from the important value of this excellenttext. It is a rich repository of references to treatments and comesas close as is possible to being entirely comprehensive.

All dermatological departments and all office-based derma-tologists will want their own copy.

CME Rowland Payne

London, UK

1Book reviewsBook review

B. Sommer

Book review

Hyperhidrosis and Botulinum Toxin in Dermatology. Kreyden,Böni and Burg. Current Problems in Dermatology, Basel,Karger, 2002

Kreyden, Böni and Burg have edited a book which really meetsthe standards stated in the preface: the book describes the stateof the art in our knowledge of hyperhidrosis and its treatment.It begins with the anatomy of the sweat glands and thepathophysiology of sweating, and reviews the traditional andsurgical treatment modalities of hyperhidrosis. Most chapters,however, are devoted to the use of botulinum toxin. Following areview of historical and basic aspects, it offers valuable appliedknowledge in the form of a summary of our current clinicalexperience and detailed instructions in the practical applicationof botulinum toxin for the treatment of hyperhidrosis. Side-effects and complications are also thoroughly discussed.

Kreyden and his group have to be congratulated for findingso many contributors. Putting highly experienced authors underone roof always means a lot of work for the editors but greaterbenefits for the readers. The authors are very well chosen, theyall have long personal experience in the treatment with botuli-num toxin and they all are internationally renowned experts intheir field. The book has a very user-friendly layout, and all thecontributions are in good logical context: on the other handreading only one chapter of interest is also very rewarding.

Searching hard in a near perfect book for a little mistake, theadvanced techniques for surgical intervention in hyperhidrosisare mentioned. Excision of the axillary glands, as described, issomewhat outdated after the introduction of suction surgery(Treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis. Hasche E in Hanke CW,Sommer B, Sattler G. Tumescent Local Anaesthesia. SpringerBerlin Heidelberg New York, 2001; Lillis P, Coleman WP III.Liposuction for treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis. DermatolClin 8: 479, 1990). This surgery, in contrast to the excision, isminimally invasive, leaves almost invisible scars and can be car-ried out as an outpatient procedure.

In conclusion, the book is to be recommended without anyhesitation to everyone who is concerned with the subject hyper-hidrosis. It gives a perfect and comprehensive overview of thepathophysiology and treatment of hyperhidrosis, with a focuson the new therapy with botulinum toxin by renowned expertsfrom Europe and the USA.

Boris Sommer

Rosenparkklinik, Darmstadt, German