Correlation of the severity of atopic dermatitis with growth retardation in pediatric age group

Abstract

Evidence of growth retardation was recorded in cases of severe atopic dermatitis before the advent of corticosteroid therapy and can therefore be attributed to the disease. The present study is an attempt to confirm the validity of such claims in Indian scenario. A total of 100 children with atopic dermatitis and 100 age and sex matched controls were evaluated for growth status and compared at the department of pediatric dermatology, Institute of c0 hild h0 ealth. Significant proportion of children with atopic dermatitis showed growth retardation with respect to their weight and height as compared to the controls. Statistically significant association was observed to exist between growth retardation with both the surface area of involvement of the disease and the severity of atopic dermatitis while no such association was found to exist with either sex or personal history of atopy .Our study shows that growth retardation occurs more frequently in patients with atopic dermatitis as compared to nonatopic children from the same population. This shows that there may be an association between growth and the disease process. In our study we also found that the growth retardation occurring in cases of atopic dermatitis is associated with the severity of the disease as well as the surface area of involvement.

Keywords

• Atopic dermatitis
• Growth