History of Latin American Dermatology

MARTHA MINIÑO, RAFAEL ISA ISA■ The 20th centuryFigure 5. Dr. FelipePimentel Imbert.Considered the firstDominicandermatologist, hewas also the firstmycologist andfirst president ofthe DominicanSociety ofDermatology in1949Figure 6. Dr.Huberto BogaertDíaz (2000), whiledirecting one ofthe clinical sessionsof the IDCP. (IDCP-DHBDAdministration)Towards 1904, a leprosarium was to be built on the small island of Catalina, in thesoutheast of the country, but that project was abandoned. The work was carried out inNigua, southwest of the city, and concluded in 1911 15 . Its head was Dr. Fernando ArturoDefilló, the first leprologist in our country, in the periods 1912-1922 and 1922-1926 16 .Dr. José Antonio Miniño Bhäer headed the leprosarium in 1928 17 ; its last director wasDr. Mario Fernández, since it is now a geriatric home.As of 1912, the first female Dominican physician, Evangelina Rodríguez, who hadgraduated in France, worked in gynecology-obstetrics and urology, and treated sexuallytransmitteddiseases (STDs), among prostitutes in her native San Pedro de Macorís, producingthe first systematic descriptions of these pathologies.Dr. Guillermo Herrera, a brilliant leprologist who had studied in France, took over theleadership of the leprosarium in Nigua beginning in 1942, remaining there until mid-1980. He was the first to use sulfonates on leprosy patients and published various articlesin the Dominican Republic and abroad on “Liquenoid lesions in leprosy” and“Treatment of leprosy with sulfonates” 18 .The first dermatologists and the first Society of DermatologyIn the 1940s, the existence of the first specialized dermatologists who had studied inforeign lands must be highlighted: Víctor Manuel Soñé Uribe studied in Brussels andpracticed as a dermatologist and venereologist; Manuel Felipe Pimentel Imbert (Figure5) studied dermatology and mycology in Puerto Rico, practicing in both areas; he devotedhimself to teaching medicine as a mycologist and bacteriologist, and as a dermatologisthad a private practice; Héctor Purcell Peña and Miguel Ortega are also worthy of mention19, 20 .On June 8, 1949, the Dominican Society of Dermatology and Syphilography (SDDS)was founded; its first president was Dr. Pimentel Imbert and the vice-president was Dr.Héctor Purcell Peña, a venereologist; other members were Juan Mella, Miguel Ortega,Víctor Soñé Uribe, venereologist dermatologists, Guillermo Herrera, leprologist, Julio Senior,Guillermo de los Santos, general practitioners; José de Jesús Ravelo de la Fuente,laboratory physician, and as honorary president, Fernando Defilló.However, the ruling political regime did not allow the scientific activities of the medicalguild, so that the society remained practicallyinactive until 1962. In that year, a newboard was elected and new bylaws were proclaimed,with a commission formed by PimentelImbert, Herrera, Purcell, Soñé,together with Miguel Contreras and HubertoBogaert Díaz (Figure 6); Rafael RodríguezCastellanos, Félix Benzo, Gilberto BaltasarRobiou, José Ruso, Rafael Fernández Báezand Rafael Díaz also took part.It was established that the society wouldbe composed of Dermatology, Venereology,and Leprology specialists, would have itsown magazine, would host congresses, symposiums, courses and all relevant scientificactivities; its members could enjoy trips and study scholarships. The modification of thename of the association was also authorized for the one it currently bears, Dominican Societyof Dermatology (SDD in Spanish) 20, 21 .380