Key clinical point: Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) who initiated dupilumab were at a 2-fold higher risk of developing conjunctivitis within 6 months of treatment initiation vs. those who initiated other systemic therapies, with comorbid asthma further increasing the risk.
Major finding: The risk of developing conjunctivitis within 6 months of treatment initiation was higher with dupilumab vs. methotrexate (relative risk [RR] 2.12; 95% CI 1.56-2.91), mycophenolate (RR 2.43; 95% CI 1.32-4.47), or cyclosporine (RR 1.83; 95% CI 1.05-3.20). Comorbid asthma could be a risk factor for conjunctivitis in dupilumab initiators (RR 2.86; 95% CI 1.24-6.60).
Study details: This population-based longitudinal study included 5,004,117 patients with AD who newly initiated dupilumab or methotrexate (cohort 1, n = 5,770), dupilumab or mycophenolate (cohort 2, n = 4,402), and dupilumab or cyclosporine (cohort 3, n = 4,238).
Disclosures: This study was supported by the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. The authors declared serving as advisors, speakers, consultants, or principal investigators or receiving funding and grants from several sources.
Source: Schneeweiss MC et al. Incidence of bacterial and nonbacterial conjunctivitis in patients with atopic dermatitis treated with dupilumab: A US multidatabase cohort study. Dermatitis. 2022 (Feb 15). Doi: 10.1097/DER.0000000000000843