Summer-Associated Dermatitis: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Unique Eczematous Dermatosis in South India

In our hospital setup located in the tropical zone, during each summer, we frequently come across a unique eczematous dermatosis among elderly females that typically occur in summer.

We carried out this study with the objective of studying the demographic and clinical features of this dermatosis.

In this hospital-based descriptive study, we enrolled twenty consecutive patients presenting with typical features of the dermatosis of interest, such as itchy eczematous scaly papule and plaques distributed predominantly over flexures, self-limiting in nature, and with summer exacerbation. Detailed history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations were carried out.

All were females with a mean age of 52.35±15.74 years. Mean age at onset of the disease was 50.80±15.77 years. The onset and exacerbation of lesions typically occurred during summer. The mean duration of the disease was 17.75±15.80 months. The typical lesions were multiple well-defined erythematous scaly papules and plaques bilaterally symmetrically distributed predominantly over the flexures. All biopsies showed spongiotic dermatitis picture and direct immunofluorescence was negative in all of them.

This unique dermatosis which occurs in elderly females has not been widely reported. With clinical features and results of various investigations, it would be appropriate to call it "summer-associated dermatitis."