Long-term immunotherapy of 146 dogs with atopic dermatitis - A retrospective study

Atopy is a common pruritic dermatitis in dogs. Treatment options are glucocorticoids. antihistamines, fatty acids and immunotherapy. This study evaluates the long-term success rates of immunotherapy in 146 dogs. Forty-eight percent of the patients showed a good or excellent response to therapy. In 14 dogs, therapy was discontinued and the patients stayed in remission. Age of disease onset or treatment onset or response to glucocorticoids did not influence treatment outcome. However, dogs with strong skin test reactions to pollens and dust mites showed a better response (57.6% and 44% respectively) than patients with strong reactions to insects or mould sports (29.6% and 12.5% respectively). When the intradermal skin test revealed only very subtle positive reactions, a response rate of 32% was seen.