By Allison Sit
A new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Academy of Dermatology showed children with atopic dermatitis (AD) are significantly more likely to have positive patch tests compared with children who do not have AD. Positive patch tests to bacitracin, carba mix and cocamidopropyl betaine were significantly increased in children with AD. The study authors recommend that dermatologists evaluate children with AD for allergic contact dermatitis and conduct patch testing.
“Patients can have atopic dermatitis and allergic contact dermatitis at the same time, and it all looks like the same thing,” said board-certified dermatologist JiaDe (Jeff) Yu, MD, MS, FAAD, assistant professor of adult and pediatric dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital and senior author of the study. “I imagine it like layers of a cake. Maybe the first layer is atopic dermatitis, and then the second layer is allergic contact dermatitis. In these cases, the overall eczema may look very severe but once you remove the allergic component, the eczema seems much more manageable.”
While AD treatment options also can be used to treat allergic contact dermatitis, Dr. Yu noted that it’s important to identify and avoid substances that are causing the allergic reaction.
An advocacy group for patients with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is launching a new disease registry. Debra of America will provide an electronic health record (EHR) platform so that patients may aggregate their records. In addition, patients will be able to upload their genomic data. Researchers can correlate the data to EHRs, which can help gain more understanding of the genotype-phenotype correlations of the disease.
“By allowing the use of their health data, individuals with EB can contribute to developing real-world evidence about the natural history of EB, the impact of current treatments, and their unmet health needs, which will help future drug development,” said Anna Bruckner, MD, co-director of the EB Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Colorado and professor of dermatology, University of Colorado Medical School.
A new not-for-profit organization seeks to raise awareness of radiation therapy in dermatology. Dermatology Association of Radiation Therapy (DART) members will include physicians, radiation therapists and physicists, academicians, and medical residents and students who are actively pursuing careers in dermatology and radiation therapy.
“With the fast-growing adoption of newer radiation-based therapies for nonmelanoma skin cancer, it is important for healthcare professionals to have an organization focused on related matters,” said Jacob Scott, MD, DPhil., DART president and chairman. “DART will provide that vital service, sponsoring meetings, educational programs and research; disseminating critical information and advocating for related matters before governmental bodies; advancing guidelines, protocols and other clinical best practices in skin cancer treatment; and promoting the practice of radiation therapy for skin cancer and other skin conditions for the benefit of patients and interested medical professionals.”
