History of Latin American Dermatology

DEVELOPMENT OFPEDIATRICDERMATOLOGYIN LATIN AMERICAEVELYNE HALPERT, RAMÓN RUIZ MALDONADO, HÉCTOR CÁCERESPediatric Dermatology took shape as a specialized field in the second half of the twentiethcentury, albeit several dermatologists and pediatricians had already worked previouslyin that area in the United States, Europe and Latin America. In October 1972, Drs.Ramón Ruiz Maldonado and Lourdes Tamayo organized the First International Symposiumon Pediatric Dermatology in Mexico City; the International Society of Pediatric Dermatologywas founded during its course and the specialized field was officially born.Some of the world’s most outstanding specialists have participated in it: Martin Bear, ofIreland; Ferdinando Gianotti, of Italy; Joan E. Hodgman, Coleman Jacobson, GuntherKahn, Andrew M. Margileth and Lawrence M. Solomon, of the United States; Edmund J.Moynahan, of Britain; Dagoberto O. Pierini, of Argentina; Ramón Ruiz Maldonado, ofMexico; Eva Torok, of Hungary, and Kasuya Yamamoto, of Japan.Since that date, ten world congresses have been held and diverse regional societies ofthis field have been created in the United States, Europe, Japan and Latin America.In 1973, Drs. Ramón Ruiz Maldonado and Lourdes Tamayo created and consolidateda training college in Pediatric Dermatology in Mexico where more that 80 specialistsfrom Latin America, Europe, the United States and other countries have graduated. Thestudy course, which is officially certified, lasts 3 years for pediatricians and 1 year forgraduate dermatologists. At a later date, Dr. Dagoberto O. Pierini launched the PediatricDermatology training program in Argentina, where there are currently two training institutesin the field, headed by Dr. Margarita Larralde and Dr. Adrián Martín Pierini, respectively.In Venezuela, for several years, a program led by Luis Alfredo GonzálezAveledo was in operation. Currently, Drs. Magalis Herrera Navarro and Leopoldo Díaz-Landaeta lead a Specialization program in Pediatric Dermatology at the Pediatric SubfieldsHospital in Maracaibo.The emergence of Pediatric Dermatology as a well-defined specialized field promotedvast advances in research, diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of childhood dermatologicaldiseases. Its development has made notable progress possible in areas such asneonatal physiology, prenatal diagnosis, keratizination ailments and the knowledge andhandling of pathologies such as bullous epidermolysis, vascular tumors and atopic dermatitis,among others.441