European guideline (EuroGuiDerm) on atopic eczema - part II: non-systemic treatments and treatment recommendations for special AE patient populations.

The evidence- and consensus-based guideline on atopic eczema was developed in accordance with the EuroGuiDerm Guideline and Consensus Statement Development Manual. Four consensus conferences were held between December 2020 and July 2021. Twenty-nine experts (including clinicians and patient representatives) from 12 European countries participated. This second part of the guideline includes recommendations and detailed information on basic therapy with emollients and moisturizers, topical anti-inflammatory treatment, antimicrobial and antipruritic treatment and UV phototherapy. Furthermore, this part of the guideline covers techniques for avoiding provocation factors, as well as dietary interventions, immunotherapy, complementary medicine and educational interventions for patients with atopic eczema and deals with occupational and psychodermatological aspects of the disease. It also contains guidance on treatment for paediatric and adolescent patients and pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as considerations for patients who want to have a child. A chapter on the patient perspective is also provided. The first part of the guideline, published separately, contains recommendations and guidance on systemic treatment with conventional immunosuppressive drugs, biologics and janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, as well as information on the scope and purpose of the guideline, and a section on guideline methodology.

European guideline (EuroGuiDerm) on atopic eczema: part I - systemic therapy.

The evidence- and consensus-based guideline on atopic eczema was developed in accordance with the EuroGuiDerm Guideline and Consensus Statement Development Manual. Four consensus conferences were held between December 2020 and July 2021. Twenty-nine experts (including clinicians and patient representatives) from 12 European countries participated. This first part of the guideline includes general information on its scope and purpose, the health questions covered, target users and a methods section. It also provides guidance on which patients should be treated with systemic therapies, as well as recommendations and detailed information on each systemic drug. The systemic treatment options discussed in the guideline comprise conventional immunosuppressive drugs (azathioprine, ciclosporin, glucocorticosteroids, methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil), biologics (dupilumab, lebrikizumab, nemolizumab, omalizumab and tralokinumab) and janus kinase inhibitors (abrocitinib, baricitinib and upadacitinib). Part two of the guideline will address avoidance of provocation factors, dietary interventions, immunotherapy, complementary medicine, educational interventions, occupational and psychodermatological aspects, patient perspective and considerations for paediatric, adolescent, pregnant and breastfeeding patients.

[Psoriasis in dupilumab-treated atopic dermatitis]. / Psoriasis bei Dupilumab-behandeltem atopischem Ekzem.

Dupilumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to the common alpha chain of the IL­4 and IL-13 receptor and blocks the Th2 signaling pathway, which plays a key role in the development of atopic dermatitis. We report on the case of a 40-year-old man, who developed histologically confirmed psoriasis after 6 weeks of dupilumab therapy. The arbitrary, abrupt stopping of the unusual, not guideline-based oral steroid therapy, together with the blockade of the Th2 signaling pathway by dupilumab were apparently the relevant trigger factors for the newly developed psoriasis in our patient.

A systematic review of factors influencing treatment adherence in chronic inflammatory skin disease - strategies for optimizing treatment outcome.

Adherence describes how a patient follows a medical regime recommended by a healthcare provider. Poor treatment adherence represents a complex and challenging problem of international healthcare systems, as it has a substantial impact on clinical outcomes and patient safety and constitutes an important financial burden. Since it is one of the most common causes of treatment failure, it is extremely important for physicians to reliably distinguish between non-adherence and non-response. This systematic review aims to summarize the current literature on treatment adherence in dermatology, focusing on chronic inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and acne. A systematic literature search was performed using the PubMed Database, including articles from 2008 to 2018. Low treatment adherence is a multidimensional phenomenon defined by the interplay of numerous factors and should under no circumstances be considered as the patient's fault alone. Factors influencing treatment adherence in dermatology include patient characteristics and beliefs, treatment efficacy and duration, administration routes, disease chronicity and the disease itself. Moreover, the quality of the physician-patient relationship including physician-time available for the patient plays an important role. Understanding patients' adherence patterns and the main drivers of non-adherence creates opportunities to improve adherence in the future. Strategies to increase treatment adherence range from reminder programs to simplifying prescriptions or educational interventions. Absolute adherence to treatment may not be realistically achievable, but efforts need to be made to raise awareness in order to maximize adherence as far as possible.

[Topical therapy for atopic eczema]. / Externe Therapie des atopischen Ekzems.

Atopic eczema is a chronic recurrent inflammatory skin disease characterized by intensive pruritus and a high burden of disease. Based on a genetically determined skin barrier dysfunction, xerosis cutis and a tendency towards microbial skin infections are the leading clinical features. Mild and moderate disease manifestations are common, and usually treated with topical agents only. Treatment concepts are usually based on a combination of (i) topical basic therapy consisting of skin cleansing and barrier stabilizing emollients and (ii) topical anti-inflammatory therapy of visible skin lesions with topical corticosteroids and topical calcineurin inhibitors. Proactive therapy of the commonly affected and usually relapsing areas of skin is an important therapeutic option for long-term maintenance treatment of moderate to severe disease. Patients should be actively involved in planning of treatment, which should be adapted to individual patient factors such as age, involved body areas, type of skin lesions, as well as seasonal and climatic factors. New promising treatment options including topical phosphodiesterase inhibitors and topical Janus kinase inhibitors are currently being evaluated in clinical trials and may become a future treatment option for atopic eczema. This review article summarizes the current topical treatment options and new perspectives in the topical therapy of atopic eczema.