History of Latin American Dermatology

History of Dermatology in Mexicoa tropical country and many of the so-called tropical diseases are found in it. The basicdermatological problems are mycoses (mycetoma, sporotrichosis, chromoblastomycosis,coccidioidomycosis, hystoplasmosis), parasitosis, leishmaniasis, chicle ulcer, oncocercosis,mycobacterioses (leprosy, tuberculosis), treponematosis and pyodermas, but thereare also diseases related to nutrition (pellagra) or to the environment (solar prurigo).Dermatological surgeryIt is hard to establish at what time Dermatological surgery was born in Mexico. Dr.Julio César Liparoli, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, appears to have been the first dermatologistto advertise his services as a specialist in “Dermatological Surgery” in private practice.At the General Hospital of the City of Mexico, the pioneer in this field was Dr. JorgePeniche, who organized the first Clinic for Skin Tumors in the late 1950s, with the collaborationof a plastic surgeon and a radiotherapist. Thus was born the Dermato-Oncologyand Dermatological Surgery Unit of that hospital’s Dermatology Service. In 1976, thefirst the Dermato-Oncology and Dermatological Surgery course was launched, with a durationof one year. This subfield is currently underpinned by the Autonomous NationalUniversity of Mexico and is taught at three institutions: the General Hospital of Mexico,the Dr. Manuel Gea González Hospital and the Pascua Dermatological Center. At the latter,in the 1960s, surgical procedures — still very limited — were handled by Dr. YolandaOrtiz. In 1967, the so-called prior consultation on tumors and their surgical treatmentwere established, initially carried out by a plastic surgeon and afterwards by dermatologists;in 1978, the Center shifted address and the latter was taken up by the DermatologicalSurgery Service; lastly, in 1982, the Clinic for Malignant Tumors was established.In 1988, a residency began at the Clinic for Tumors and at the Dermatological SurgeryService. Since then more than 30 dermatologists have completed the training.On the 20 th of November, at the National Medical Center, the Dermatology Servicewas established in 1961 by Dr. Aquiles Calles; in 1986, a medical residency in Dermatologywas launched with a program of dermatological surgery on rotation with plasticsurgery.The General Hospital of Social Security’s National Medical Center existed between1963 until its disappearance in the year 1985, when it was destroyed in the great earthquake.Dermatological surgery was carried out by Dr. José Luis Jiménez Castilla; in 1968a plastic surgeon participated and there was a rotation within the specialized field. Advancedcases were sent to the Oncological Hospital for a second opinion from Dr. CharlesMeurehg; this service is currently handled by a dermatologist.Dr. León Neumann trained at the now-gone Institute for Sanitation and Tropical Diseases(1966-67), where virtually no dermatological surgery was performed. He attendeda private clinic in New Orleans for several months to learn dermoabrasion and hairtransplant techniques in 1967, and was probably the first to carry out a hair transplantin Mexico.Two dermatologists who had trained in Spain joined the Dr. Manuel Gea González GeneralHospital, Dr. Judith Domínguez Cherit (1987) and Dr. Josefina Carbajosa (1991). Dr.Leticia Boeta, who had trained in Mohs surgery in the United States, joined in 1996. DermatologicalSurgery was launched at the Institute for Nutrition Diseases in 1982 with theincorporation of Dr. Josefina Carbajosa, who introduced Mohs surgery, tumescent anesthesia,nail surgery and dermatological surgery of the genitals, among others. This subfieldis also practiced at the Central Military Hospital under the guidance of Dr. ClementeMoreno Collado, at the Dermatological Institute of Jalisco under the leadership of theplastic surgeon Julio Barba Gómez, and at the Juárez Hospital with Drs. Ortiz and Boeta.The Dermatology service of the University Hospital of Monterrey (Nuevo León) is ledby Dr. Jorge Ocampo Candiani who trained as a dermatological surgeon at the universities265