General reviews
TELEMEDICINE AND E-HEALTH IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ATOPIC DERMATITIS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Summary

Telemedicine has been defined as the exchange of medical information from one site to another through electronic means of communication to improve patient’s health. E- health refers to the use of digital technologies to enable communication among health care practitioners and also between health professionals and their patients. Teledermatology is succesfully used in the management of chronic inflammatory skin disorders like atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, but also to monitor acne or various types of eczema. Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory pruritic eczema that affects children and adults with a family history of atopy. Teledermatology and e-health contribute to the management of atopic dermatitis through online doctor-patient encounters, websites that provide patient educational resources, web-based applications, etc. Consequently, patients are encouraged to explore and find out more about atopic dermatitis, thus playing an active role in its mangement, along with their doctor. Teledermatology is considered to play an important part when it comes to optimizing care for atopic dermatitis during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic (COVID-19 pandemic) since digital technologies are means of communication that may assure a proper doctorpatient relationship. This article highlights the important role teledermatology might play in the management of atopic dermatitis during these times when social distancing is required to prevent the widespread of the virus.