Working during decades in the tropical llanos and mountainous regions of Venezuela we have learned that there exists frequently remarkable morphologic likeness between the above mentioned entities, mainly regarding cutaneous lesions while they are quite different etiologically. In order to make an exact diagnosis it is often necessary to perform histological, cytological or serologic examinations. Therefore many specialists, but mostly dermatologists, have gladly applied our recommended diagnostic methods.

One part of these cases has been observed mainly in Barinas / Venezuela and has been published in the journals of the editorial Omnimed in Hamburg, Germany; another part has been studied in Mérida /Venezuela.

By the way, the international tourism and the migration of the masses contributed to bring many patients to the physicians who were then confronted with unfamiliar and exotic diseases.

We believe to make a somewhat useful contribution to the differential diagnosis with this CD when we confront the clinical aspect to these exotic lesions, we will call tropical here, because they occur mostly in these regions, with the usual ones.

Since the unusual fungal and parasitic infections occur often in a different way and at different locations we had to bring them several times.

Special clinical aspects, occurrence in different geographic regions, the invasion of internal organs, therapeutic details and the evolution of the diseases are not described in this CD. These data must be studied in the books of the bibliography we bring at the end of this CD.

Dr. Luis Alberto Nuñez, professor of the University of the Andes, Mérida / Venezuela, Director and Coordinator of the Council of Computation of this University and his collaborators (Msc. Ana Lia Silva and Msc. Hilda Yelitza Contreras) helped to produce this CD Rom. We thank them especially.