INFRAORBITAL CREASE AND ATOPIC-DERMATITIS

The usefulness of a prominent infraorbital skin crease as a marker of atopic dermatitis (AD) was examined in 500 consecutive school children 3 to 11 years of age, Infraorbital crease was recorded by two trained observers according to a strict protocol, and AD was determined by an independent dermatologist who was blinded to the study design, A prom inent infraorbital crease was present in only 4 of 20 (20%) children w ith AD, compared with 171 of 480 (35.6%) children who did not have AD (p > .05), While infraorbital crease may be of some use in diagnosing individual cases of AD in a hospital setting, it appears to be less us eful in population-based studies because of its poor validity and repe atability.