[Atopic neurodermatitis]

Atopic dermatitis is a multifactorial skin disease with complex aspects and a wealth of abnormal immunological and nonimmunological findings. Abnormalities of skin morphology and function, disturbances of the essential fatty acids metabolism and in the cyclic AMP system as well as immunological abnormalities are shortly described. In analogy to asthma and rhinitis, the author propose to divide atopic dermatitis according to the presence or not of an associated respiratory allergy and specific IgE sensitization in 3 groups, namely in an "extrinsic", an "intrinsic" and a "mixed" type.