In the introduction to this 183-page, soft-cover book, Miescher writes, "Dr I. N. Gigli has managed to assemble a series of important contributions within two issues of the Journal which are of such an interest to dermatologists that we decided to publish this topic as a separate volume for all dermatologists who do not have access to Seminars in Immunopathology." The book contains 13 chapters by 23 expert authors dealing with some—but by no means all—immunologically mediated skin diseases.
The book begins rather surprisingly with a chapter on immunologically mediated epidermal cell injury and discusses Langerhans' cells, melanocytes, and keratinocytes, and diseases caused by immunologic damage. Next, the group from Duke University presents an interesting conceptual chapter on antibody-induced proteinase activation in pemphigus, followed by good reviews of dermatitis herpetiformis and erythema multiforme.
Three chapters concern the biologic features of the mast cell in clinical disorders, including bullous pemphigoid, urticaria,