Abstract
Topical corticosteroid is well known as the most effective topical anti-inflammatory agents for atopic dermatitis at this time. However considerable numbers of patients are suffering from persistent refractory severe dermatitis as a result of inappropriate topical corticosteroid treatment. In such cases there seems to be several pitfalls that prevent physicians to reach the treatment goal such as insufficient comprehension of significance of anti-inflammatory effect, misevaluation of treatment outcome or ignorance of patient's low adherence. To solve those problems topical corticosteroid treatment strategy with conscious of time course to reach the goal was proposed. It is accurate proactive treatment combined with monitoring serum biomarker thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC). This strategy is composed of remission induction followed by control of subclinical inflammation with tapering of topical application frequency. In the treatment schedule of atopic dermatitis physicians should recognize the two-step strategic goal. First step is to induce and maintain remission with anti-inflammatory agent; second step is the final goal of long term remission with minimal anti-inflammatory agent.Skin Research, Suppl. 21:4-10, 2014
