• Mu-Hong Chen, Yi-Hui Wu, Tung-Ping Su, Ying-Sheue Chen, Ju-Wei Hsu, Kai-Lin Huang, Cheng-Ta Li, Wei-Chen Lin, Wen-Han Chang, Tzeng-Ji Chen, and Ya-Mei Bai.
• Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Epilepsia. 2014 Aug 1; 55 (8): 1307-12.

ObjectiveBoth atopic dermatitis and epilepsy have been regarded as chronic inflammatory diseases. However, their association has yet to be investigated.MethodsUsing the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, 35,312 patients with atopic dermatitis but without a history of epilepsy, and 35,312 age-/gender-matched controls were enrolled between 1998 and 2008, and followed to the end of 2011 to identify the development of epilepsy.ResultsSubjects with atopic dermatitis had a higher incidence of developing epilepsy (0.94 vs. 0.27/1,000 person-years, p < 0.001) than the control group. The Cox regression model showed that atopic dermatitis increased the risk of developing epilepsy (hazard ratio [HR] 2.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.23-3.82) after adjusting for demographic data and medical comorbidities. Sensitivity tests showed consistent findings (HR 2.32, 95% CI 1.68-2.96) after excluding the first year of observation. In addition, asthma (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.04-1.72) and allergic rhinitis (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.04-1.73) were related to the risk of epilepsy.SignificanceSubjects with atopic dermatitis were associated with an increased risk of developing epilepsy in later life. Further studies would be needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms.Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2014 International League Against Epilepsy.

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