<dermatology> A pruritic papulovesicular dermatitis occurring as a reaction to many endogenous and exogenous agents.
It is characterised in the acute stage by erythema, oedema associated with a serous exudate between the cells of the epidermis (spongiosis) and an inflammatory infiltrate in the dermis, oosing and vesiculation and crusting
and scaling and in the more chronic stages by lichenification or
thickening or both, signs of excoriations and hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation or
both. Atopic dermatitis
is the most common type of dermatitis.
Synonym: eczematous dermatitis.
Origin: Gr. Ekzein = to boil out
(18 Nov 1997)
