Background: Current treat‐to‐target recommendations for atopic dermatitis (AD) may not include high enough treatment targets and do not fully consider patient needs.Objective: To develop recommendations for optimized AD management, including disease severity assessments, treatment goals and targets, and guidance for treatment escalation/modification.Methods: An international group of expert dermatologists drafted a series of recommendations for AD management using insights from a global patient study and 87 expert dermatologists from 44 countries. Experts voted on recommendations using a modified eDelphi voting process.Results: The Aiming High in Eczema/Atopic Dermatitis (AHEAD) recommendations establish a novel approach to AD management, incorporating shared decision‐making and a concept for minimal disease activity (MDA). Consensus (≥70% agreement) was reached for all recommendations in 1 round of voting; strong consensus (≥90% agreement) was reached for 30/34 recommendations. In the AHEAD approach, patients select their most troublesome AD feature(s); the clinician chooses a corresponding patient‐reported severity measure and objective severity measure. Treatment targets are chosen from a list of ‘moderate’ and ‘optimal’ targets, with achievement of ‘optimal’ targets defined as MDA.Conclusions: Patient and expert insights led to the development of AHEAD recommendations, which establish a novel approach to AD management. Patients were not involved in the eDelphi voting process used to generate consensus on each recommendation. However, patient perspectives were captured in a global, qualitative patient research study that was considered by the experts in their initial drafting of the recommendations.

Among biological agents for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD), dupilumab is a front-runner. Although many studies have been conducted on the real-world use of dupilumab, the sample size is often small and data is primarily on Western people. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy and safety of dupilumab in patients with moderate-to-severe AD in Korea. All patients with moderate-to-severe AD treated with dupilumab from September 2018 to June 2019 in this institution were included and analyzed by medical records. They were evaluated using the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Patient Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM), and Dermatology Quality of Life Index (DLQI), respectively on admission, after two weeks (only EASI and NRS) and after 16 weeks. Laboratory tests were measured before and 16 weeks after treatment. A total of 101 patients were included. All efficacy tools showed a significant decrease after 16 weeks; EASI 77.4%, NRS 70.0%, POEM 60.7%, and DLQI 65.0%. EASI was characterized by a marked improvement of 51.5% in just two weeks. The treatment response was not significantly different according to the interval of treatment. Elevated Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) at 16 weeks was associated with poor treatment response. Moreover, a high eosinophil count was related to a lower change in EASI and POEM. In the correlation analysis, EASI was not correlated to DLQI before treatment. For changes after 16 weeks, POEM showed the highest correlation with DLQI. (R = 0.66, p < 0.001) In the additional analysis for factors affecting treatment response, the female gender was associated with good treatment response. (odds ratio = 5.4, p = 0.04) Adverse events from treatment included facial erythema (9.9%) and conjunctivitis (5.0%). Overall, it was confirmed that the efficacy of dupilumab in the real-world is similar to that of the existing clinical trials. We suggest that POEM is a useful tool for identifying the quality of life. The female gender was associated with a good treatment response. Both an elevated LDH and a high eosinophil count could be a therapeutic biomarker. Further research will be needed for a long-term period.

Lee JH, et al. Ann Dermatol. 2021 Dec;33(6):497-514. https://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2021.33.6.497

Skin diseases that cause chronic pruritus can have negative effects on a patient's quality of life. We evaluated the associations between chronic pruritus and psychological conditions including insomnia and depression. This study included responses from 91 participants with chronic pruritus (response rate: 74.6%). A survey including questionnaires regarding data on demographic characteristics, intensity of pruritus using the visual analog scale (VAS) and the 4-item itch questionnaire, and the degrees of insomnia and depression measured by the Insomnia Severity Index and Beck Depression Inventory, respectively. Patients with symptoms of insomnia or depression had significantly more intense pruritus than patients without psychological symptoms (insomnia, VAS median [interquartile range]: 7.0 [5.0-8.25] vs. 5.0 [3.0-7.5]; depression, VAS median [interquartile range]: 7.5 [5.0-8.25] vs. 5.0 [3.0-7.0]). Multivariable analyses revealed that patients with moderate to severe pruritus were more likely to have depression than those with mild pruritus (odds ratio: 10.95; 95% confidence interval: 2.24-53.06). There were no differences in the severity of insomnia and depression among skin diseases. This study had a cross-sectional design and limited generalizability. Chronic pruritus is significantly associated with insomnia and depression, regardless of the etiology.

Background: It is well known that atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with other allergic diseases. Recentely, links to diseases other than allergic disease have also been actively studied. Among them, the results of studies regarding AD comorbidities, especially cardiovascular disease (CVD), have varied from country to country.Objective: To analyze whether the risk of CVD is different between AD patients and healthy controls using Korean National Health Insurance Data.Methods: We obtained data from 2005 to 2016 from the Korean National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with one AD code and two AD-related tests codes were selected as AD patients, and age-and sex-matched controls to the AD patients were selected from among those without AD (1:5). Each group was investigated for accompanying metabolic syndrome (which contains hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and hyperlipidemia) and CVD (angina, myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke) using ICD 10 codes.Results: The incidence of metabolic diseases and CVD were significantly different between the AD and control groups. Using multivariable Cox regression, differences were adjusted for sex, age, and other CVD and metabolic diseases. As a result, not only metabolic disease, but also the CVD risk of AD patients was significantly higher than that of the control group. Patients with AD had as significantly higher risk of hyperlipidemia (hazard ratio [HR] = 33.02, p < 0.001), hypertension (HR = 4.86, p < 0.001), and type 2 diabetes (HR = 2.96, p < 0.001). AD patients also had a higher risk of stroke (HR = 10.61, p < 0.001), myocardial infarction (HR = 9.43, p < 0.001), angina (HR = 5.99, p < 0.001), and peripheral vascular disease (HR = 2.46, p < 0.001). Besides hyperlipidemia, there was no difference in risk according to AD severity.Conclusion: Patients with AD have a greater risk of CVD than those without AD.

Ahn J, et al. Ann Dermatol. 2021 Feb;33(1):1-10. https://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2021.33.1.1