Adult-onset atopic dermatitis

Abstract

Adult-onset atopic dermatitis (AD) is a recently introduced subgrotip of AD. Apart from the most typical flexural liclienified/exudative pattern in adults, patients may also have nontypical morphology and localization. The aim of this retrospective study was to find the frequency of nontypical morphology and localization in adult-onset AD and to evaluate the accuracy of United Kingdom Working Party's criteria in detecting those cases. Among 376 patients consecutively diagnosed with AD according to criteria of a previous study, 63 patients (34 women and 29 men) (16.8%) with onset of AD after the age of 18 years were allocated to the adult-onset group. A total of 7 patients (11.1%) had nonflexural involvement with nummular (6.3%), prurigo-like (3.2%), or follicular (1.6%) patterns that could not he attributed to contact sensitivities. A total of 14 patients (22.2%) did not fulfill the United Kingdom Working Party's criteria. It was interesting that United Kingdom Working Party's criteria did not cover the same patients as did the previous study's criteria in nearly one fourth of the cases.