A Case of Head and Neck Dermatitis Treated with Itraconazole / 대한의진균학회지

Head and neck dermatitis is a variant of atopic dermatitis often seen in young adults. Pityrosporum is a normal skin commensal. Thus, its importance as a pathogen of atopic dermatitis was neglected in the past. It was found, however, that the treatment of head and neck dermatitis with an antifungal agent results in clinical improvement. At present, although the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis has not yet been fully elucidated, Pityrosporum is considered one of the triggers of head and neck dermatitis. The case of an 18-year-old male who had a history of head and neck atopic dermatitis with erythematous xerotic patches accompanied by a yellowish colored crust and oozing on the facial area is reported herein. The lesion was treated with itraconazole monotherapy for four weeks, after which its condition improved.

The Relationship between Anti-Pityrosporum IgE Level and Clinical Manifestations in Atopic Dermatitis Patients with Head and Neck Dermatitis / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: Head and neck dermatitis is a variant of atopic dermatitis often seen in young adult. Though the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis is still not well elucidated, Pityrosporum is considered to be one of the triggering factors for head and neck dermatitis. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relationship between Pityrosporum infection and clinical features of head and neck dermatitis patients. METHODS: We evaluated anti-Pityrosporum IgE levels using RAST method in 68 outpatients with atopic dermatitis and other allergen specific antigens with MAST-CLA techniques. RESULTS: Among the 68 atopic dermatitis, 36 were diagnosed as atopic dermatitis with head and neck dermatitis and 24 out of 36 head and neck dermatitis patients showed RAST positive for Pityrosporum and the level of RAST was higher than atopic dermatitis patients without head and neck dermatitis with correlation coefficient (p<0.05). The severity of erythema and eczematous reaction was also correlated with the positivity of RAST with statistical significance (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: From these results, we speculate Pityrosporum can influence the severity and clinical manifestations in atopic dermatitis patients with head and neck dermatitis.