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ATOPIC DERMATITIS
Treatment Guideline Chart
Atopic dermatitis or atopic eczema is a chronic, relapsing, familial, symmetric and pruritic inflammatory skin disease that commonly presents during early infancy and childhood, but can persist or start in adulthood.
It is commonly associated with elevated serum immunoglobulin E levels and a personal or family history of allergies, allergic rhinitis and asthma.
It is one of the most common skin diseases afflicting both children and adults.

Differential Diagnosis

  • Other conditions can mimic atopic dermatitis and thus have to be ruled out:
    • Contact dermatitis
      • May co-exist with atopic dermatitis; the defective epidermal barrier in patients with atopic dermatitis allows entry of irritants and increased allergen permeation which leads to sensitization resulting to the potential development of allergic contact dermatitis in subsequent exposures
    • Ichthyosis
    • Dermatitis herpetiformis
    • Cutaneous lymphoma
    • Mycosis fungoides
    • Primary immunodeficiency
    • Psoriasis
    • Scabies
    • Seborrheic dermatitis
    • Collagen diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis)
    • Netherton syndrome 
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