Atopic Dermatitis: 5 Things to Know

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, pruritic inflammatory skin condition that typically affects the face (cheeks), neck, arms, and legs but usually spares the groin and axillary regions. AD usually starts in early infancy but also affects some adults. AD is often associated with elevated levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE). That it is the first disease to present in a series of allergic diseases — including food allergy, asthma, and allergic rhinitis, in order — has given rise to the "atopic march" theory, which suggests that AD is part of a progression that may lead to subsequent allergic disease at other epithelial barrier surfaces.

Here are 5 things to know about atopic dermatitis.

1. Essential features of AD are pruritus and eczema.

The diagnosis of AD is primarily observational. It is made on the basis of patient and family history, pattern of lesions, morphology, and clinical signs. No genetic features or biomarkers are specific enough to reliably aid in diagnosis or severity assessment. Many individual findings are used to diagnose AD, as summarized by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) based on essential, important, associated, and exclusionary features:

• Essential features (must be present for diagnosis) are (1) pruritus and (2) eczema (acute, subacute, or chronic) with typical morphology and age-specific patterns and chronic or relapsing history.