Atopic dermatitis. Findings of skin biopsies

Twenty-eight adult patients with a clinical diagnosis of atopic dermatitis (according to the criteria of Hanifin and Lobitz) were studied at the Allergy Outpatient Service, the Dermatology Service and the Pathological Anatomy Service of the Hermanos Ameijeiras Clinical Surgical Hospital, from January to September 1986. The patients were submitted to a quantification of total serum IgE by means of the ELISA enzymatic ultramicromethod, developed at the Radioimmunoassay National Center, and skin biopsies were carried out by means of the paraffin and direct immunofluorescence methods. The most frequent histopathological findings were acanthosis, espongiosis, parakeratosis and exocitosis, as a chronic inflammatory infiltrate, mainly composed of lymphocytes, mast cells and eosinophils. In the skin direct immunofluorescence method we found depots of IgE in all the patients, having no relation in intensity to total serum IgE values.