Archives of Hellenic Medicine

Last update:

06-Jul-2023

Arch Hellen Med, 40(4), July-August 2023, 540-548

SPECIAL ARTICLE

The unmet medical need in management of adult patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in Greece

S. Gregoriou,¹ Z. Apalla,² S. Georgiou,³ E. Zafiriou,⁴ K. Theodoropoulos,⁵ D. Ioannidis,⁶ K. Kalapothakou,⁷ A. Katoulis,⁵ E. Lazaridou,² M. Papakonstantis,⁸ D. Rigopoulos,¹ T. Sidiropoulos,⁹ A. Stratigos,¹ E. Tambouratzi,¹⁰ E. Vakirlis⁶
¹First Department of Venereal and Skin Diseases, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, "Andreas Syngros" Hospital of Venereal and Skin Diseases, Athens,
²Second Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, "Papageorgiou" General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki,
³Second Department of Pathology, Clinical Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patra,
⁴Dermatological Clinic, University of Thessaly, University General Hospital of Larissa, Larissa,
⁵Second Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, "Attikon" University General Hospital, Athens,
⁶First Department of Dermatology and Venereology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University, "Hippokrateio" General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki,
⁷Department of Dermatology, National Health Service, "Agios Panteleimon" General Hospital of Nikea – "Agia Varvara" General Hospital, Pireus,
⁸Department of Dermatology, 401 General Military Hospital of Athens, Athens,
⁹Department of Dermatology, National Health Service, "Hippokratio" General Hospital – Hospital of Skin and Venereal Diseases, Thessaloniki,
¹⁰Department of Dermatology, National Health Service, "Tzaneio" General Hospital of Pireus, Pireus, Greece

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing, inflammatory skin disease with a significant impact on the quality of life of patients. The aim of this consensus was to investigate the unmet medical need in the management of adult patients suffering from moderate-to-severe AD in Greece. Initially, an extensive literature review was conducted on diagnosis, epidemiology, disease burden, treatments and AD guidelines to develop preliminary statements. In the second phase, these statements were validated, new ones were added when necessary, and finally, voted through the Delphi method by a consensus panel of medical experts-dermatologists. In the third and final phase, the validated statements were presented to a second consensus group of clinical expert-dermatologists for final vote and strengthening of the consensus. In total, 15 clinicians participated in the processes of formulation, validation and voting of 35 statements. In the final consensus, agreement rates ranged from 75% to 100% on 97.14% of the total statements. The prevalence and burden of moderate to severe AD is high, necessitating better therapeutic management of the disease. Therefore, there is an emerging need for new, more effective and safer treatment options in moderate to severe AD in Greece. New biological therapies and small molecules are supported by high efficacy and a favorable safety profile. The development of Greek guidelines and a therapeutic protocol, defining the prescribing framework for the new innovative therapies, would significantly contribute to the optimization of the disease management.

Key words: Atopic dermatitis, Disease burden, Moderate to severe disease, Therapeutic management, Unmet medical need.