Dead Sea climatotherapy versus topical steroid treatment for atopic dermatitis children: long-term follow-up study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare long-term results of 4 weeks Dead Sea climatotherapy at the Deutsches Medizinisches Zentrum, Israel to those obtained by classical topical treatment for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. Seventy-two children from the Czech Republic were divided into three groups of 24 and treated during three periods (March 2014, October 2014 and March 2015) with gradually increasing sun exposure during 28 consecutive days. Forty-four children were treated with steroid creams at the Department of Dermatovenereology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital of Kralovske Vinohrady, Prague, Czech Republic. The primary outcome was the change in the SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index, recorded after 1 month of treatment (immediately after DSC) and 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months later in Prague. The mean SCORAD improvement was 87.5 ± 13.4% after 4 weeks at the Dead Sea and 86.1 ± 11.3% after 1 month of treatment with steroid creams in the Czech Republic. All 44 patients treated in Prague participated in this 18-month follow-up study, whereas only 47 patients (65.3%) after DSC treatment. Good clinical results were maintained in both groups and mean SCORAD values were stable and low, around 5.