Arthur Rook (dermatologist)

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Arthur Rook
FRCP
Born
Arthur James Rook

15 May 1918
Cobham, England
Died30 July 1991 (aged 73)
NationalityBritish
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician
Institutions
  • St Thomas' Hospital
  • Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge
Sub-specialtiesDermatology
Notable worksRook's Textbook of Dermatology

Arthur James Rook FRCP (15 May 1918 – 30 July 1991) was a leading British

dermatologist and the principal author of Rook's Textbook of Dermatology
(1968), known as "Rook's", which reached its ninth edition in 2016.

Rook was closely associated with Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, as a consultant dermatologist and later wrote the history of that hospital. He was the editor of the British Journal of Dermatology, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, and of the International Society of Tropical Dermatology, was elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and became the president of the British Society for the History of Medicine.

Together with Ian Whimster, he wrote important articles on keratoacanthoma and blistering skin diseases.

Early life

Arthur Rook was born on 15 May 1918,

Second World War. Arthur Rook was educated at Charterhouse School, and then Trinity College, Cambridge, changing his mind at the last minute from studying languages to the study of medicine.[2]

In 1932, he married Frances Jane Elizabeth Knott, daughter of the pathologist Frank A. Knott. They had three sons.[2]

Career

He studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, and after qualifying with a MB BChir in 1942 and graduating with an

MD in 1950 with a thesis on keratoacanthoma and blistering eruptions,[1][2] did three years National Service[3] with the Royal Air Force, achieving the rank of squadron leader. Afterwards, he continued his dermatology training under Geoffrey Dowling and Hugh Wallace at St Thomas's and spent six months at St Louis Hospital in Paris. At the age of 32, he became a consultant dermatologist at Cardiff[2] and in 1953 moved to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, where he spent many years.[4]

In 1953 with Eric Waddington, Rook wrote on bullous (blistering) skin diseases and believed that pemphigus was distinct from pemphigoid,[2][5][6] supporting Lever who had at that time defined "bullous pemphigoid".[7]

Keratoacanthoma

Keratoacanthoma

Described as a "crateriform ulcer of the face"

immunosuppressed people, have been made.[13] In 1979, Rook and Whimster revised their work and mentioned that squamous cell carcinoma could develop in a keratoacanthoma.[14] Despite being common lesions, much about keratoacanthomas remains a matter of debate.[15] Although Rook and Whimster believed it to originate from the excretory ducts of sweat glands, other schools of thought have its origin in the hair follicle or the surface epithelium.[16] In addition, although the distinct crater has been shown to be a hallmark of a keratoacanthoma, other benign or malignant skin lesions have also been shown to exhibit similar appearances.[15]

Other roles

Rook was known for the ability to read in six languages and he absorbed the latest dermatological scholarship from around the world which he could quote with authority. He became a major figure in British dermatology[2] and was editor of the British Journal of Dermatology from 1968 to 1974[17] In 1974 he became the president of the British Association of Dermatologists, and of the International Society of Tropical Dermatology. He was later elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and also became the president of the British Society for the History of Medicine.[2][18]

In 1968, the first edition of

Blackwell Scientific Publications in Oxford. It was jointly written with Darrell Wilkinson and John Ebling.[19] The ninth edition, still bearing his name, was published in 2016. His co-authored History of Addenbrooke's Hospital was published by Cambridge University Press in 1991, just prior to his death.[2]

Personal

He took a special interest in the history of medicine, ornithology, botany and gardening.[2] Following retirement at the age of 59 in 1977, his last decade of life was troubled by Parkinson's disease but he was able to keep up his scientific work. He died in 1991, at the age of 73, less than a year after his wife.[2][3]

Selected publications

Books

  • Rook's Textbook of Dermatology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1968. (2 vols.) (With Darrell Wilkinson and John Ebling)
  • Botanical Dermatology: Plants and Plant Products Injurous to the Skin. Greengrass. Vancouver, 1979. (With John Mitchell)
    ISBN 0889780471
  • Diseases of the Hair and Scalp (Edited with Rodney Dawber) (2nd 1991)
  • The History of Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991.
    ISBN 9780521405294

Papers

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Munks Roll Details for Arthur James Rook". munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b "In Memory of Arthur Rook" by S.C. Gold, Dermatology, 184 (1992), pp. 235–236.
  4. ISBN 9780521405294
    .
  5. S2CID 28827099
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-8121-0641-1
    .
  7. ^ "Pemphigus: A Historical Perspective". International Pemphigus Pemphigoid Foundation (IPPF). 31 January 2003. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Cerroni, Lorenzo; Kerl, Helmut (2012), Goldsmith, Lowell A.; Katz, Stephen I.; Gilchrest, Barbara A.; Paller, Amy S. (eds.), "Chapter 117. Keratoacanthoma", Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine (8 ed.), The McGraw-Hill Companies, retrieved 20 August 2018
  9. ^
    PMID 13162754
    .
  10. ^
    S2CID 71452344
    .
  11. S2CID 27373097
    .
  12. S2CID 44608979
    .
  13. ^ "Keratoacanthomas: A new classification based on morphologic findings and on anatomic site". Derm101. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  14. S2CID 37928167
    .
  15. ^
    PMID 28256761
    .
  16. ISBN 978-1-4757-6321-8
    .
  17. ^ Past officers. Archived 8 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine British Association of Dermatologists. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  18. doi:10.1016/S0190-9622(08)80350-7
    .
  19. ^ "Preface" by Chris Griffiths et al, (2016) Rook's Textbook of Dermatology, 9th edition, online edition. Wiley.
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