Key clinical point: Although food allergy (FA) is common among pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediates the majority of instances and very few patients report food-triggered AD (FTAD), cautioning against unnecessary dietary restrictions.
Major finding: I gE-mediated FA was common in the overall cohort (55%) irrespective of the severity of AD (mild, 60%; moderate, 45%; severe, 57%), whereas FTAD was rare (3%) and diagnosed in only 2%, 6%, and 4% of patients with mild, moderate, and severe AD, respectively. In patients with AD only, more patients developed IgE-mediated FA vs FTAD (29% vs 5%).
Study details: Findings are from a retrospective study including 372 pediatric patients with AD, of which 29% had moderate AD and 18% had severe AD.
Disclosures: This study was funded by University of Wisconsin-Madison. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Li JC et al. Prevalence of food allergy diagnosis in pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis referred to allergy and/or dermatology subspecialty clinics. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2022 (Jun 8). Doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2022.05.028