Atopic dermatitis or “atopic eczema” is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, associated with pruritus, that typically begins in the early years of life, then persisting throughout the pediatric years and gradually improving as it transitions into adolescence and adulthood, but without completely resolving.
The appellation “atopic” (from the Greek a-topos, meaning “lacking a specific location”) given to dermatitis emphasizes the absence of a specific skin location for the lesions, although in reality the skin manifestations tend to occur predominantly on the face (in particular, around the mouth and nose, eyelids/eyebrows), scalp, neck and shoulders, the flexor part of elbows and knees, hands and wrists, feet and ankles.
The course of the disease, characterized by acute phases interspersed with periods when there are little or no skin symptoms, is entirely subjective and unpredictable.
Even between flare-ups, however, atopic skin is more sensitive and easily irritated than the skin of people without atopy. Although primarily affecting the skin, atopic dermatitis is a condition indicative of the presence of impaired immune system functioning of a more general nature, associated with an increased susceptibility to developing allergies of various types (allergic rhinitis, asthma, food allergies, allergic dermatitis, etc.).
