"Morphea and related disorders"

What is it about?

The aim of this book titled “Morphea and related disorders” is to give a comprehensive and detailed description of morphea (inappropriately termed as localized scleroderma) and some of the disorders related to it. The morphea is a topic which has not been well explored in many of its aspects like controversies regarding its classification, its relation with other related disorders, etc. Apart from it, there have been deficiencies till recent past in evaluating its disease activity/severity. This book comprises of 20 chapters. After a detailed introduction and history of the morphea, a separate chapter has been assigned for various classifications systems of morphea. A detailed account of several classifications of morphea have been described and finally the editor has also proposed a simplified and holistic classification of morphea and disorders related to it. Separate chapters discussing the epidemiology, predisposing factors and pathogenetic mechanisms involved in the causation of morphea are provided to give readers a thorough understanding of its etiopathogenesis. The histopathology of morphea has been discussed in detail which gives in depth knowledge about various clinical types and stages of morphea as well as histology of several related disorders which pose a diagnostic challenge in the diagnosis of morphea. The chapter on clinical presentation focuses on all the morphological types of morphea describing their clinical features in detail. In Differential diagnoses of morphea, several conditions which resemble morphea clinically or histologically have been mentioned and features setting them apart from morphea have been described in a comprehensive manner. Since, assessment of disease severity in morphea has been a challenge till recent times; hence a complete chapter has been added to the book to explore this aspect of morphea. Though morphea is differentiated from systemic sclerosis primarily by the absence of internal organ system involvement; nevertheless, on some occasions morphea has been associated with other diseases and some extracutaneous manifestations of morphea have been reported. Thus, chapters on diseases associated with morphea and extracutaneous manifestations in patients of morphea have been incorporated to explore these grey areas. Following this, investigations which may be needed in diagnosing and evaluating a case of morphea are discussed in detail. The treatment guidelines have been incorporated for each type of morphea with focus on disease prognosis. Finally, Individual chapters have been drafted for six special entities which include Idiopathic atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini, Linear atrophoderma of Moulin, Parry-Romberg syndrome, Lichen sclerosus, pediatric morphea and eosinophilic fasciitis to give a detailed account of such entities.

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Photo by elizabeth lies on Unsplash

Photo by elizabeth lies on Unsplash

Why is it important?

• Probably, The first reference book written exclusively on morphea • Easy and simple language for readers • Chapter synopsis at the beginning of each chapter to give idea about what is written in the chapter. • Learning points at the end of the chapter so that readers after completing the chapter know what they have learnt from the chapter. • Multiple high resolutions colored photographs to enhance readers to recognise lesions. • Plenty of tables and boxes to enhance readability. • Individual chapters on special topics like idiopathic atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini, linear atrophoderma of Moulin, Parry-Romberg syndrome, pediatric morphea and eosinophilic fasciitis. • This book will serve as a reference book to dermatologists, rheumatologists and physicians ranging from resident to professor.

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