title: Clinical features of atopic dermatitis in a hospital-based setting in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease. There have been few detailed reports of the clinical evaluation of Chinese patients with AD.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To give a profile of the clinical features of Chinese AD patients in a university hospital setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1008 cases met Hanifin and Rajka diagnostic criteria of AD were recruited at Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In our survey, 22.7% patients were mild, 66.6% were moderate and 10.7% were severe according to the SCORAD index. Both the frequency and severity of the male patients were slightly higher. The frequency of asthma among the AD patients was 16.7% and it was increased with the age (χ2 = 205.20, P = 0.000). The frequencies of objective minor signs were demonstrated with age-related changes. Besides, three localized variants including eyelid eczema (49.8%), scalp dermatitis (49.7%), infra-auricular and retroauricular fissuring (44.8%) were commonly observed, especially in the infantile phase (P < 0.01). It was showed significant differences in serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels of different age groups. The positive rate of Phadiatop was raised after 3 years old and that of the common food allergens were decreased after 6 years old.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More males than females had ongoing AD in our survey. Most AD debuted in the first year of the cases. High incidence of the three clinical signs: eyelid eczema, scalp dermatitis and infra-auricular and retroauricular fissuring among the patients suggests it can be a potential valuable diagnostic clue to AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein