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Background: Environmental factors play a major role on atopic dermatitis (AD) which shows a constant rise in prevalence in western countries over the last decades. The Hygiene Hypothesis suggesting an inverse relationship between incidence of infections and the increase in atopic diseases in these countries, is one of the working hypothesis proposed to explain this trend., Objective: This study tested the efficacy and safety of oral administration of the bacterial lysate OM-85 (Broncho-Vaxom®, Broncho-Munal®, Ommunal®, Paxoral®, Vaxoral®), in the treatment of established AD in children., Methods: Children aged 6 months to 7 years, with confirmed AD diagnosis, were randomized in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to receive, in addition to conventional treatment with emollients and topical corticosteroids, 3.5mg of the bacterial extract OM-85 or placebo daily for 9 months. The primary end-point was the difference between groups in the occurrence of new flares (NF) during the study period, evaluated by Hazard Ratio (HR) derived from conditional Cox proportional hazard regression models accounting for repeated events., Results: Among the 179 randomized children, 170 were analysed, 88 in the OM-85 and 82 in the placebo group. As expected most children in both treatment groups experienced at least 1 NF during the study period (75 (85%) patients in the OM-85 group and 72 (88%) in the placebo group). Patients treated with OM-85 as adjuvant therapy had significantly fewer and delayed NFs (HR of repeated flares = 0.80; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.67-0.96), also when potential confounding factors, as family history of atopy and corticosteroids use, were taken into account (HR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.69-0.98). No major side effect was reported, with comparable and good tolerability for OM-85 and placebo., Conclusions: Results show an adjuvant therapeutic effect of a well standardized bacterial lysate OM-85 on established AD.

Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon (KMP) is a rare life-threatening vascular condition of infancy. Prognosis factors and long-term follow-up data are lacking. We retrospectively analysed the records of 24 infants (10 females, 14 males) treated for KMP in the Department of Dermatology of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France, from 1984 to 2012. Mean duration of thrombocytopaenia (2,000-38,000 platelets/mm3, mean 10,500/µl) was 8.8 months (range 3 days-84 months), which correlated with tumour infiltration depth on imaging. D-dimer levels were always elevated, even before KMP onset. Each patient received a mean of 4.8 different treatments (range 1-10). Median follow-up was 6.5 years (range 2 months-22 years). All infants had residual cutaneous lesions, along with inflammatory manifestations (n = 9), elevated D-dimer (n = 5) and orthopaedic sequelae (n = 5). The permanent coagulopathy (elevated D-dimer) even after resolution of KMP suggests the presence of chronic low-grade platelet trapping, with possible sudden worsening, and raises the possibility of prophylactic anti-platelet therapy.