History of Latin American Dermatology

CÉSAR IVÁN VARELA HERNÁNDEZOn January 25, 1999, a gray day for Colombia and forcryosurgery, a devastating earthquake laid waste to 60%of the city of Armenia and to its Cryosrugery Unit; at thattime, César Iván Varela was a standing visitor on Fridays.The Unit re-emerged from the rubble a year later underthe leadership of the most excellent Ángela Seidel Arango,with the cooperation of all the colleagues in Armenia, expandingits scope of action and maintaining the philosophyof its founder with regards to teaching and treatmentfor the neediest.Note: we deeply regret the death of Dr. Castro Ron afew days after finishing the writing of this chapter.Figure 26.Founding of theIbero-LatinAmericanAssociation ofCryosurgeryHISTORY OF DERMATOLOGICAL SURGERYThe first steps were taken by the local Indians with their procedures for the healingof wounds, draining and extractions. During the Conquest, the protomédicos (medicaloverseers) and barbers held sway, and later it was physicians and surgeons who offeredservices. In 1965 Flavio Gómez Vargas studied dermatological surgery at the Universityof Rio de Janeiro and on his return to Medellín introduced surgical techniques there.Later, in 1967, Juan Pedro Velásquez Berruecos became an expert in the new techniquesand in the handling of equipment with state-of-the-art technology. A pioneer in radiosurgery,he has designed and taught manifold simple and effective techniques for consulting-roomprocedures. In Cali, in the 1970s, Rafael Falabella designed new techniquesfor the surgical treatment of vitiligo with minigrafts 25, 28 ; later, Carlos Escobar foundedthe chair at the University del Valle. In Montería, dermatological surgery started out in1983 with the arrival of Adolfo Gómez Agámez, who studied in Mexico and trained indermocosmiatry in Argentina with Drs. Cordero; he was backed up in his work by RómuloVitar Zapa and Víctor Otero Marrugo. In 1992 the new era in dermatologicalsurgery began in Bogotá with Guillermo Gutiérrez Aldana, when the graduate studiesprogram in oncological Dermatology was created at the National Cancerology Institute.The first dermatological surgeons — Michel Faizal Geagea, who studied in Brazil, and ÁlvaroEnrique Acosta Madiedo de Hart, in Spain — were in charge of organizing andlaunching the programs and of the application of Mohs surgery 31 , a surgical techniqueintroduced in Cali by Claudia Marcela Covelli Mora and Carmen Helena de La Hoz Ulloa.Dr. Covelli introduced liposuction, followed by Pablo Alonso Tróchez Rodríguez. In 1994,in Medellín, the Institute of Health Sciences created the first supra-field dermatologicalsurgery program. The majority of currently practicing dermatologists in the countrycarry out dermatological surgery on a routine basis and it is regularly taught at the diverseschools.■ Dermatological institutions institutionsCésar Iván Varela HernándezHISTORY OF THE COLOMBIAN ASSOCIATION OF DERMATOLOGYAND DERMATOLOGICAL SURGERY; ITS CHAPTERS, BRANCHES AND REGIONSThe Colombian Association of Dermatology and Dermatological SurgeryAt the Medical Club in Bogotá, on June 27, 1948, at 6:00PM, Drs. Manuel José Silva,Gonzalo Reyes García, Carlos Cortés Enciso, Miguel Serrano Camargo, Guillermo PardoVillalba, Alcibíades Correal, Álvaro Medina, Tomás Henao Blanco, Gustavo Castellano M,130