[Prognosis in atopic dermatitis]

The author recalls the difficulties of epidemiological enquiries in these conditions: sometimes minimal clinical expression, evolution prolonged and/or recurrent, thus the diagnosis is not only medical but may directly originate from the relatives, it is often the case that atopic dermatitis is grouped together with constitutional eczema and confused by the public with eczema, an popular conception that covers many skin lesions. From the bibliography, the prognosis cannot dbe determined accurately. Passage to asthma, with or without persistence of the skin lesions is the greatest fear when the dermatitis is severe. It is often a question of serious asthma. These uncertainties probably arise from the fact that these affections are syndromes artificially collected under the name of atopy. Clarification will only come if the field of atopy is derived according to the functions of the various causal pathophysiological mechanisms.