Rarity of hypertension in adult patients with atopic dermatitis

Background Patients with atopic dermatitis show a tendency for vasoconstriction of the small vessels in the skin. As peripheral vasoconstriction contributes to the cause of hypertension. it is natural to suppose that blood pressures might be on the high side in adult patients with atopic dermatitis. In the literature, however, there was little information on the subject. Objectives To study the incidence of hypertension in adult patients with atopic dermatitis. Patients/methods Blood pressure was measured in 521 adult patients with active atopic dermatitis (235 males; 286 females) aged 30-59 years, and 87 adults with 'healed' atopic dermatitis (26 males; 61 females) aged 34-52 years. The blood pressures were classified as definite hypertension, borderline hypertension or normal blood pressure. Results In those patients aged 30-39 years with active atopic dermatitis, the incidence of definite hypertension in the male patients and the female patients was 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively. The incidence remained almost at a plateau for the 30-39-year-old age group through to the 50-59-year-old age group, in both the male and female patients. There was no difference in the incidence of definite hypertension between patients with severe dermatitis and patients with mild dermatitis. Adult patients with 'healed' atopic dermatitis also showed a low incidence of definite hypertension. Conclusions These findings indicate that hypertension is rare in adult patients with atopic dermatitis. It is most probable that the rarity of hypertension is a primary feature of the disease.