Prasad Kumarasinghe - Pigmentary Skin Disorders

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Pigmentary disorders have received increasing attention in the last two decades. The psychological effects of hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation can be enormous in a given patient. The impact is not only due to the extent of the disease but also due to the individual patients expectations and the sociocultural implications. Improving the quality of life of each individual should be a treatment goal. While arrest of the disease and reversal of the dyspigmentation are the main treatment goals, when they are not possible, camouflage also plays an important role. The psychological impact of pigmentary disorders such as vitiligo, melasma and macular pigmentation of uncertain aetiology can be severe in dark-skinned patients.

The study of melanocyte has attracted a lot of attention in the recent past. Progress in the management of advanced melanoma has been tremendous in the last few years. Dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy are useful tools in diagnosis of early malignant melanomas where available. Because of greater awareness by communities with fairer skin, melanomas are diagnosed relatively early. In dark-skinned communities, due to lower prevalence and lack of awareness, melanomas are often diagnosed late, leading to poorer outcomes. It is also heartening to note that there are a lot of promising, ongoing research projects now on diseases such as vitiligo giving patients more hope for effective treatment.

This book attempts to address many important topics of skin disorders with dyspigmentation. We do not intend for this to be a textbook that covers the AZ of all pigmentary disorders. It covers the most important hyperpigmentary and hypopigmentary disorders, discusses skin colour measuring devices and techniques such as reflectance confocal microscopy and proposes a practical, comprehensive clinical classification for pigmentary disorders. This book highlights the recent advances in the field of pigmentary disorders. We believe it will be a valuable aid to young doctors, clinical researchers, dermatology trainees and dermatologists.

The authors of the chapters are from 12 countries in many diverse regions of the world, making this truly an international effort. The contributions by the world leaders in disorders of pigmentation are outstanding. I am grateful to all the authors of the chapters and Springer staff for doing an excellent job in making this book project a success. I am also thankful to Prof Chee Leok Goh of Singapore for encouraging me to take on this task.

I hope that this book will serve as a useful reference and a valuable complement to the publications in the field of pigmentary disorders.