Litt's D.E.R.M Drug Eruptions and Reactions manual, 20 ^th (Platinum Anniversary) Edition

Lalit Kumar Gupta

 Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, RNT Medical College, Udaipur, 313001, Rajasthan, India

Correspondence Address:
Lalit Kumar Gupta
Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, RNT Medical College, Udaipur, 313001, Rajasthan
India

Author: Jerome Z. Litt

Publisher: CRC Press, Boca Raton.

ISBN 13:978-1-4822-2767-3

Edition: 20 ^th , 2014

Pages: 531

Price: 179 $

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a frequent, at times inevitable consequence of drug administration that can seriously jeopardize the patient-physician relationship. Since newer drugs are introduced into the market periodically and uncommon adverse events to medications already in use are recognized and reported, it becomes imperative for the treating physician to remain updated with these. This updated knowledge, apart from ensuring the safety of the patient also helps to protect the practitioner in the event of any legal consequences. This is where this reference manual comes very handy to the treating physician.

Litt′s D.E.R.M Drug Eruptions and Reactions Manual, 20 ^th (Platinum) edition, is a succinct clinical reference derived from Litt′s D.E.R.M database. Over the years, the book has evolved into a ready and reliable reference manual for drug eruptions not only for dermatologists, but also for practitioners across all specialties throughout the globe. Although the number of pages have been reduced by 50 odd pages compared with the previous edition, the book contains over 1000 drug profiles including brief descriptions of the generic and trade names, pharmaceutical company, half life, indications, pregnancy category, clinically important interactions, and listing of ADRs/eruptions which have been categorized according to organ systems. Apart from prescription drugs, the book also enlists over the counter medications, supplements, vaccines, and biologics. The incidence of adverse events (in percentages) and the number of such adverse reactions (in rare events) have been indicated in parenthesis. This will prove useful for practitioners, both in counseling patients about what adverse events to expect while taking the drug, and also in finding precedence in case of a rare drug eruption.

The drugs are arranged in an A to Z fashion, thereby providing ease of searching. Important drug reactions, with seemingly endless lists of drugs causing them, are listed at the end of the book. Also useful are the tables given at the end of the book, which are handy in comparing the adverse effects due to different drugs in a particular class, thereby helping the physician to choose one drug over another in a given clinical setting. In short, readers can search according to either individual drug, class of drug, or the adverse reaction.

The book has a few downsides too. There is no categorization of adverse effects as dose dependent or idiosyncratic. This gives a false impression of many common adverse effects as being rare. For example, there is only one article listing for striae under prednisolone, and only one listing of anemia under dapsone. Also, the references need to be accessed online, on the website www.drugeruptiondata.com, the subscription key for which is not provided with the book and needs to be purchased separately at a cost of 295$ per year. However, the site additionally offers continuous updating of data, photographs of reaction patterns, and access via a smart phone.

To sum up, the book adequately accomplishes what it is meant to; it is a comprehensive yet concise reference manual for drug eruptions. It cannot, however, replace the detailed dermatology drug textbooks, neither does it aim to do so. However, it is a "must have" on the desk of any practicing dermatologist.