From the academy
Guidelines of care for atopic dermatitis

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Disclaimer

Adherence to these guidelines will not ensure successful treatment in every situation. Furthermore these guidelines should not be deemed inclusive of all proper methods of care or exclusive of other methods of care reasonably directed to obtaining the same results. The ultimate judgment regarding the propriety of any specific therapy must be made by the physician and the patient in light of all the circumstances presented by the individual patient.

Introduction/methodology

A work group of recognized experts was convened to determine the audience for the guideline, define the scope of the guideline, and identify nine clinical questions to structure the primary issues in diagnosis and management. Work group members were asked to complete a disclosure of commercial supports and this information is in the technical report.

They employed an evidence-based model and the evidence was obtained primarily from a search of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases spanning the years 1990

Scope

This guideline addresses the management of those patients with AD or atopic eczema. Recommendations regarding smallpox vaccinations in AD patients were not addressed in this guideline. These issues are discussed at the following Web sites from the American Academy of Dermatology, American Academy of Dermatology Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Institute of Medicine: www.aad.org, www.aadassociation.org, www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox, and //www4.nationalacademies.org/iom/iomhome.nsf

Definitions

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory pruritic skin disease which occurs most frequently in children but can occur in adults and follows a relapsing course. It is often associated with elevated serum IgE levels and a personal or family history of type I allergies, allergic rhinitis, and asthma.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Atopic eczema is synonymous with AD.

Issues

The task force identified the following clinical questions in the management of AD prevention measures during pregnancy and after birth, use of topical corticosteroids, use of other topicals in established dermatitis, use of antihistamines, dietary restrictions, non-pharmacological interventions, systemic immunomodulatory agents and complementary/alternative therapies.

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References (7)

  • Goodman CS. National Information Center on Health Services Research & Health Care Technology (NICHSR) [Web site]. TA101...
  • J.M. Hanifin et al.

    Diagnostic features of atopic dermatitis

    Acta Derm Venereol

    (1980)
  • C. Costa et al.

    Scoring atopic dermatitisthe simpler the better?

    Acta Derm Venereol

    (1989)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

This report reflects the best available data at the time the report was prepared, but caution should be exercised in interpreting the data; the results of future studies may require alteration of the conclusions or recommendations set forth in this report.

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