Clinical course of atopic dermatitis in Japanese patients

Abstract We conducted a questionnaire study of 117 patients, who had first consulted the Department of Dermatology Kumamoto University Hospital 20 or 30 years ago, regarding the clinical course of atopic dermatitis (AD). Forty-one patients responded to the questionnaire. Seventeen patients (41.4%) had recovered and 24 patients (58.6%) still had AD. The AD had resolved in 12 of 13 (92.2%) with mild disease severity, four of 18 (22.2%) with moderate severity and one of ten (10%) with severe disease. The outcome was significantly better in the mild group than in the moderate or severe group ( χ 2 =15.5, P =0.0008/ χ 2 =14.8, P =0.00012, respectively). The resolution of the disease was not correlated with the sex of patient, age at onset, period of disease or family history.