Study of clinical features of patients with chronic eczema

Objective — s to study the clinical features of chronic eczema (CE) in 96 patients aged 18 to 78 years. Materials and methods. The study was carried out in the city clinical dermatovenerological dispensary No. 5 in Kharkov. All patients gave written informed consent to participate in the study.The majority of them (66.7 %) were between 31 and 50 years old. The duration of dermatosis in 6.3 % of the surveyed persons ranged from 6 months to 1 year, in 33.3 % — from 1 year to 5 years, in 42.7 % — from 5 to 10 years, in 17.7 % — over 10 years. The most frequent causes of exacerbation in 51.1 % were neuropsychiatric trauma and stress, in 15.6 % — dise­ases of internal organs and acute respiratory diseases, in 13.5 % — contact with chemicals. In all patients, dermatosis was recurrent. Most often, the surveyed patients complained of moderate intensity itching (51 %) and severe sleep disturbances (66.7 %). Moderate leukocytosis and accelerated ESR were found in 21.9 % of patients, eosinophilia — in 5.1 %. Results and discussion. 96 patients with chronic eczema aged 18 to 78 years were under observation. The diagnosis of chronic eczema was based on anamnestic data, patients’ complaints of itchy skin of varying intensity, objective examination of the patient, as well as recurrences of dermatosis for more than 1 year. The largest number of patients had dermatosis from 5 to 10 years. Chronic eczema in the observed patients was recurrent. The duration of remission was (4.9 ± 0.2) months. The duration of exacerbation was (6.1 ± 0.2) weeks. To characterize the severity of chronic eczema, a scoring system was used, according to which the average severity was (2.63 ± 0.08) points.According to the degree of skin lesions, the forms of dermatosis were limited and widespread. Patients complained of skin itching of varying intensity: more often itching of moderate intensity, periodic; painful, persistent, with an insurmountable need to scratch; short-term; no itching.Also, patients noted sleep disturbance in the form of difficulty falling asleep, sudden awakening at night and lack of a feeling of rest after waking up in the morning. 39 patients had bad habits (smoking, alcohol abuse).Сlinical analysis of blood revealed moderate leukocytosis, accelerated ESR, eosinophilia, signs of secondary infection. Conclusions. The average age of the patients ranged from 31 to 50 years. All examined patients had recurrent dermatosis. The average degree of its severity was (2.63 ± 0.08) points. Most often, patients complained of moderate intensity itching (51 %) and severe sleep disturbances (66.7 %). In 21.9 % of the examined patients moderate leukocytosis and accelerated ESR were revealed, in 5.1 % — eosinophilia.