Clinical Efficacy of Subcutaneous Allergen Immunotherapy in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis.
OBJECTIVE
The clinical usefulness of subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (SCIT) in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) is still controversial. We analyzed the clinical efficacy of SCIT in patients with AD and the clinical characteristics of patients showing a favorable clinical response to the treatment.


METHODS
Two hundred and fifty one patients with AD sensitized to house dust mite (HDM) were treated by SCIT using HDM extract. The clinical severity of AD was measured using the standardized clinical severity scoring system for AD (SCORAD) at baseline and 12 months. A favorable clinical response to SCIT was defined as a decrease in SCORAD value at 12 months greater than 50% compared to baseline value. Severe AD was defined as a baseline SCORAD value above 50.


RESULTS
A favorable clinical response to SCIT was observed in 73.6% of patients. The proportion of patients showing a favorable clinical response to SCIT was significantly higher in patients with severe AD (90.6%) than patients with mild to moderated AD (63.7%) (p<0.001). Patients with severe AD showing a favorable clinical response had a significantly shorter duration of AD (12.3±8.5 years; mean±SD) than patients with severe AD showing no significant clinical response (20.6±10.9 years) (p<0.05) at baseline.


CONCLUSIONS
SCIT could be a clinically useful therapeutic option for patients with severe AD sensitized to HDM. Early initiation of SCIT might provide a favorable clinical outcome in patients with severe AD sensitized to HDM.
Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea. dhnahm@gmail.com.
Dong Ho
DH
Nahm
Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Myoung Eun
ME
Kim
Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Byul
B
Kwon
Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Su Mi
SM
Cho
Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Areum
A
Ahn
D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000818:Animals; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003888:Desensitization, Immunologic / Q000379:methods*; D004391:Dust / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008925:Mites / Q000276:immunology*; D039981:Pyroglyphidae / Q000276:immunology; D012015:Reference Standards; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000485:Allergens; D004391:Dust
Dermatitis, atopic; allergens; clinical efficacy; desensitization