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ePaper created 2014-09-15, 12:31:02 | version 1.32.01
Johannes Jacobus Zoon Johannes Jacobus Zoon (1902-1958), Van Leeuwen’s successor, became aware of the necessity to develop insight into pathophysiology. He was in charge of the department from 1945 till 1957. During this period, attention to venereal diseases decreased: only 17 of 97 articles published related to this topic. The Finsen lamp was used for the last time in 1955. In a 1949 landmark demonstration before a meeting of Dutch dermatologists, Zoon presented 3 patients with a well-demarcated red skin lesion on the glans penis and foreskin, and with many plasma cells in the upper dermis revealed microscopically. He concluded that this was a benign condition with no relationship to syphilis and different from a similar-looking premalignant condition called erythroplasia of Queyrat. In 1952, Zoon proceeded to describe this condition in 8 patients under the name “Balanoposthitis circumscripta benigna plasmocellularis”.[1] Since then his name has become synonymous with this condition. Zoon promoted research activities by physicists and chemists. Many non-medical scientists, usually already holding a PhD degree, were enlisted to consolidate the staff. Like Van Leeuwen before him, Zoon too had to work under relatively primitive conditions. Only after many years did Zoon succeed in obtaining facilities adequate for an in-patient department. Such facilities were needed at a time when some 1000 patients were admitted annually. Today, by contrast, only 200 patients are admitted per year . Being a passionate teacher, his lectures were always overcrowded with students. His management style was autocratic, limiting the number of topical therapies to no more than ten. Hydrocortison acetate could only be prescribed with the permission of the professor. At that time, Roentgen therapy was popular for treating many benign skin diseases. Zoon set up laboratories for dermatopathology, mycology, physics and chemistry. Paul Bastiaan Rottier focused on the diagnostic equipment for UV sensitive skin while Jan Cornelis van der Leun concentrated on UV-induced erythema. Van der Leun discovered the phenomenon of UV desensiti- zation, which was further developed by Huib van Weelden and made Utrecht the national center for the diagnosis and treatment of photodermatoses. 65 Balanoposthitis circumscripta benigna plasmocellularis. BWEADVSMGFINCORR:Opmaak 1 21-07-2014 17:40 Pagina 65