TOPLINE:
Patients with primary dysautonomias showed a higher risk for seborrheic dermatitis (SD), and exposure to psychotropic medications further increased the risk, in a large population study.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed 220,192 patients with primary dysautonomia and 220,192 matched individuals without the condition from the TriNetX database.
- The risk for SD at least 1 day after the diagnosis of primary dysautonomia was calculated.
- Researchers also compared patients with dysautonomia who were exposed to psychotropic medications with those who were not.
TAKEAWAY:
- Patients with autonomic dysreflexia showed the highest risk for SD (risk ratio [RR], 1.80; 95% CI, 1.54-2.11), followed by familial dysautonomia (RR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.59-1.93) and multisystem atrophy (RR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.39-1.80) compared with matched individuals without dysautonomia.
- The risk for SD was also higher in patients with peripheral autonomic neuropathy (RR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.34-1.58) and unspecified primary dysautonomias (RR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.23-1.39).
- Patients with dysautonomia who were exposed to psychostimulants (RR, 3.68; 95% CI, 3.27-4.15), hypnotics and sedatives (RR, 2.92; 95% CI, 2.66-3.21), antipsychotics (RR, 2.83; 95% CI, 2.56-3.13), anxiolytics (RR, 2.74; 95% CI, 2.50-3.01), antidepressants (RR, 2.71; 95% CI, 2.47-2.97), and anti-dementia treatments (RR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.85-2.63) had significantly higher risks for SD compared with unexposed patients.
- Age-stratified analyses revealed increased risk for SD across all age groups older than 2 years.
IN PRACTICE:
The study findings suggested that “SD may be a sign of autonomic dysfunction,” the authors wrote, noting that patients with dysautonomias are commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs, which “could increase SD risk by blocking peripheral adrenergic and cholinergic receptors and increasing sympathetic activity.” Dermatologists, they added, “may consider a neurology consultation in SD patients with other autonomic dysfunction risk factors.”
SOURCE:
The study was led by Amit Singal, BA, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, and was published online on March 29 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
LIMITATIONS:
The study was limited by potential miscoding, the lack of detailed autonomic function or sebum production data, and significant differences between the groups.
DISCLOSURES:
The authors did not disclose any funding information. Two authors reported receiving consulting and advisory fees, grants, and research funding from various pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Almirall, Amgen, Eli Lilly and Company, and Moberg Pharma.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.