Eye Manifestations among Atopic Dermatitis in Children

Abstract

Background: Atopic Dermatitis is the most common type of dermatitis among children. In severe form besides skin changes, patient is prone to develop eye changes due to excessive rubbing on eyes. In such situations, ophthalmologist consultation is needed to reduce ocular comorbidities. Objective: To determine the association of eye manifestations of Atopic Dermatitis with the severity of Atopic Dermatitis in children up to 14 years of age. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in Dermatology and Ophthalmology department, Sahiwal Teaching Hospital, Sahiwal from Jan to Dec 2024. Patients fulfilling the Atopic Dermatitis diagnostic criteria (Williams UK working party) of age less than 14 years and either sex were selected in the study. A sample size of 114 patients and nonprobability consecutive sampling technique was used. Clinical severity of Atopic disease were categorized into mild, moderate and severe by using SCORAD index. All data regarding patient demographics, cutaneous and eye examination findings were recorded on a specially designed proforma. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 25. The association between eye changes and different severity (mild, moderate, severe) of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD index) was determined by using χ2 test. If p-value is equal to or less than 0.5, it will be considered significant. Results: Out of total 114 participants, majority belonged to male (65%) gender and mean age with SD was 4.68 ± 2.67 years.  Most of children were of moderate (58%) severity. Eyelid changes frequently observed were dryness of eyelid (65%) followed by blepharitis (42%). Among conjunctival finding, keratoconjunctivitis were most commonly reported (33%). No statistically significant (p-value=0.897) association of eyelid changes with disease severity was observed. Although conjunctival changes and disease severity association was statistically demonstrated significantly (p-value 0.005). Conclusion:   Ocular changes were common in children with atopic dermatitis. While eyelid findings did not correlate with disease severity, conjunctival involvement increased with more severe dermatitis.