ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic eczematous dermatitis that has a high prevalence and diverse clinical features. Although several hypotheses about its multifactorial pathogenesis have been suggested, the cause is not yet fully understood. A better understanding of the clinical features may helpful inelucidating the pathogenesis of AD. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed the questionnaires, medical charts, and laboratory examination results of 5,000 patients diagnosed with AD at a single tertiary hospital in Korea. RESULTS: The demographics, allergic comorbidities, family history, severity, and treatment experiences of the patients were analyzed. Most of the patients were adults, 76.3% of whom were classified as havingan extrinsic type of AD. The mean eczema area and severity index (EASI) score was found to be 13.68, and adult patients were found to have higher severity than the other age groups. The anatomical involvements were different among the age groups, with more involvements of the head and neck in adults. The patients reported seasonal changes and stress as the factors that aggravated their symptoms the most. Topical steroids and oral cyclosporine were the most used medications at our clinic, whereas 10.1% of the patients underwent allergen-specific immunotherapy. CONCLUSION: This analysis of 5,000 patients would lead to a better understanding of various subtypes and diverse clinical features of AD in Koreans. Distinct characteristics were observed among different age groups; thus, treatment strategies may need to be differentiated accordingly.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Comorbidity , Cyclosporine , Demography , Dermatitis, Atopic , Eczema , Head , Immunotherapy , Korea , Neck , Prevalence , Retrospective Studies , Seasons , Steroids , Tertiary Care CentersABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Little knowledge is available on the characteristic differences between patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) with and without atopic march after childhood. OBJECTIVE: To observe and compare the phenotypes of patients with AD in regards to atopic march tendency at a single point. METHODS: We enrolled patients with AD aged between 10 and 30 years. The patients were divided into the atopic march and non-atopic march groups on the basis of an investigator-designed survey questionnaire, and their serum-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels or results of the skin prick test were compared. RESULTS: In a total of 182 patients enrolled in the study, 93 patients with atopic march and 89 patients with non-atopic march were observed. When their serum-specific IgE levels or results of the skin prick test were compared between the two groups, there was no significant difference, except for a in the atopic march group. Analysis of AD severity, family history of allergic diseases, and total IgE levels between the two groups showed no statistically significant differences. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that although no apparent phenotype characteristics could differentiate the presence of atopic march, the history of the patient's allergic diseases should be revalidated, and clinicians should watch out for future developments of atopic march when a patient shows a high-class sensitization rate to dust mite.
Subject(s)
Humans , Dermatitis, Atopic , Dust , Immunoglobulin E , Immunoglobulins , Mites , Phenotype , SkinABSTRACT
PURPOSE: In extrinsic atopic dermatitis (AD), house dust mites (HDM) play a role in eliciting or aggravating allergic lesions. The nature of skin inflammation in AD has raised a growing interest in allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT). Thus, we assessed clinical improvement and laboratory parameters for evaluation of the benefit of long-term SIT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 217 AD patients who were treated with SIT for at least 3 years were retrospectively assessed, by using their investigator global assessment, pruritus scores, loss of sleep (LOS), total serum IgE, and eosinophil counts collected. Patients were additionally classified into subgroups according to age, initial AD severity and mono- or multi-sensitization to include different individual factors in the evaluation of SIT efficacy. Lastly, we compared laboratory data of good responders to SIT with that of poor responders to SIT. RESULTS: Improvement after SIT therapy was observed in 192 out of 217 patients (88.4%). Among these patients, 138 (63.5%) achieved excellent, near-complete or complete clinical remission. Significant reduction of pruritus, LOS, and the mean value of total serum IgE were observed (p0.05). CONCLUSION: We emphasize the usefulness of long-term HDM SIT as a disease-modifying therapy for AD.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Animals , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Allergens/immunology , Dermatitis, Atopic/therapy , Desensitization, Immunologic/methods , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Pyroglyphidae/immunology , Retrospective Studies , Severity of Illness Index , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Vitiligo prevalence and its associated comorbidities rate have been reported variably among different populations. We aimed to determine the prevalence of vitiligo in Korea along with the baseline rate of comorbidities and compared the risks to the general population using hospital visit information of the total population in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed demographic characteristics of vitiligo patients in Korean population from 2009 to 2011 in a nationwide data from Health Insurance Review Assessment Service. Patients who had at least one visit to Korea's primary, secondary, or tertiary referral hospitals with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis code for vitiligo were identified. As a supplementary study, comorbidities associated with vitiligo were selected for further review to calculate relative risks compared to the general population. RESULTS: The annual prevalence of vitiligo determined by hospital-visiting rate in Korea was 0.12% to 0.13% over a three year period. In sync with other previous epidemiological studies, there was bimodal distribution among the age groups and no difference between genders. Also, vitiligo in Korean population was associated with various autoimmune/non-autoimmune diseases such as thyroiditis, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis. CONCLUSION: This study was by far the most comprehensive review on prevalence of vitiligo using a data of total population in Korea. The prevalence is within a range of those reported in previous literatures, and increased risk of comorbidities such as thyroid diseases and psoriasis in vitiligo might aid clinicians in the initial work up of vitiligo patients and concurrent follow ups.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Autoimmune Diseases/epidemiology , Comorbidity , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/epidemiology , Population Surveillance , Prevalence , Republic of Korea/epidemiology , Socioeconomic Factors , Thyroid Diseases/epidemiology , Vitiligo/epidemiologyABSTRACT
No abstract available.