Jonathan Silverberg, MD, PhD: Treatment Modification Following New Recommendations for Eczema

Jonathan I. Silverberg, MD, PhD, director of clinical research at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, interviewed with HCPLive regarding the Aiming High in Eczema/Atopic Dermatitis (AHEAD) recommendations and why they matter for clinicians and individuals with atopic dermatitis.¹

This new set of recommendations were created by an international cohort of experts including Silverberg, with the aim being to provide guidance to physicians on management of atopic dermatitis management and incorporate shared decision-making and use a novel approach for the prevalent skin disease. The AHEAD team used more of a patient perspective-centric focus.²

“In some practice settings, doctors are comfortable with, let's say, an Eczema Area and Severity Index score,” Silverberg explained. “But you know what, in most settings, they're not and they don't want to have to do an EASI score. So it provides that wiggle room to say, ‘Okay, if you're in that camp where you're comfortable using EASI…you'll go with doing a global assessment in body surface area, which tends to be a little bit quicker and a little easier to do.”

He noted the value of understanding patients’ emotional health. Silverbeg stated that certain tools can be used, like the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), but that patient feedback should be balanced with what tools a hospital has in stock as well.

“Stay tuned, because part two of this exercise is now really working on how to give you the tools for your day to day practice that will spoon feed it to you to make it as easy as possible to implement this,” Silverberg said. “Because we fully acknowledge feasibility is absolutely essential if this is going to be something that's used in any kind of widespread fashion.”

To learn more about the AHEAD recommendations, view the interview segment posted above.

The quotes used in this description were edited for clarity. Relevant disclosures for Silverberg include his work as an investigator for AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Incyte, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, LEO Pharma, and others.

References

1. ^{Silverberg JI, Gooderham M, Wollenberg A. Combining treat-to-target principles and shared decision-making: International expert consensus-based recommendations with a novel concept for minimal disease activity criteria in atopic dermatitis. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2024 Jul 11. doi: 10.1111/jdv.20229. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38989857.}
2. ^{Thyssen JP, Vestergaard C, Deleuran M, de Bruin-Weller MS, Bieber T, Taieb A, et al. European task force on atopic dermatitis (ETFAD): treatment targets and treatable traits in atopic dermatitis. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2020; 34(12): e839–e842.}