EVIDENCE BASED DERMATOLOGY

canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) as a genetically- predisposed inflammatory and pruritic allergic skin disease with characteristic clinical features which most commonly is associated with IgE antibodies to environmental antibodies. INCIDENCE AND PREVALENCE Neither the incidence nor the prevalence of atopic dermatitis in the general canine population has been studied. Most textbooks estimate a prevalence of around 10%. In a recent study of over 31,000 dogs examined by veterinarians in 52 private veterinary clinics in the USA, 8.7 % of the dogs were diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. In human beings there is an increasing incidence of atopic diseases, which is suspected to be caused by environmental rather than genetic factors. Something similar is probably also happening in the case of canine atopic dermatitis. PATHOGENESIS Most dogs with AD develop an IgE mediated hypersensitivity reaction against environmental allergens that enter percutaneously in the organism. Other factors as secondary bacterial infections also help to maintain a chronic inflammatory reaction in the skin