The multifactorial nature of atopic dermatitis

At the 2024 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Long Beach, California, Brittany Lancellotti, DVM, DACVD, explains how managing atopic dermatitis requires a comprehensive understanding of its multifactorial nature, which includes genetics, environmental factors, and the animal’s unique microbiome.

Transcript:

Brittany Lancellotti, DVM, DACVD: My name is Dr Brittany Lancellotti. I am a board-certified veterinary dermatology specialist working at Veterinary Skin and Ear in Los Angeles. I'm also the founder and host of Your Vet Watching, a client education podcast for pet owners.

Atopic dermatitis is very complicated. This is a multifactorial disease involving genetics, the environment, and an animal's individual microbiome. When managing this condition, we have to consider the animal's clinical presentation, their comorbidities, how the disease is presenting in them, how they've responded to previous treatments, and what the long-term goals are for their care, as well as any side effects they've experienced.

We also need to think about what the animal is dealing with in terms of non-dermatologic medical issues and take that into account when selecting medications. These are really complicated cases that involve not just the skin but the whole animal. There are so many factors to consider when choosing the therapy that will be most effective for a specific patient.