Atopic dermatitis is a chronic pruritic inflammatory skin disease with a high impact on the quality of life of affected patients. It is a relatively common disease, and although its cause is not clear, there are several likely factors (hereditary and acquired) that interact to lead to the disease, such as a dysfunctional immune system and a reduced skin barrier.

This year’s main topic being “Inflammatory diseases”, atopic dermatitis will play an important role in the scientific programme. Several lectures will be delivered on this topic in different session formats, covering aspects ranging from its pathophysiology to its treatments.

Speaking about pathophysiology, Dr. Tilo Biedermann (Munich, Germany) will illustrate all the latest updates on the subject. In his talk he will cover the genetic causes and how a dysfunctional skin microbiome (microbial dysbiosis) can also be considered an important factor in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis comes with several complications and comorbidities, and it can develop into a lifelong condition in a subset of patients. Especially in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, inflammatory mediators can be elevated in the peripheral blood at significant levels, having an impact not only on atopic comorbidities, but also cardiovascular and other complications. Dr. Patrick Brunner (Vienna, Austria) will focus on the concept of atopic dermatitis as a systemic inflammatory disease.

Finally, Dr. Kilian Eyerich (Munich, Germany) will give an overview about trajectories and the genetic background of atopic march, an onset of allergic asthma or allergic rhinitis following atopic dermatitis. He will discuss the current hypothesis on how skin barrier impairment might contribute to the pathogenesis of atopic march, and how this might be used for translational preventive measures.