Paternal and maternal atopic dermatitis have the same influence on development of the disease in children.

A total of 285 adult patients (123 men and 162 women) with AD who married non-atopic persons and had at least one child have been seen in our outpatient clinic over the past 8 years (1990 ^ 97). All had moderate to severe disease. A personal history of respiratory atopy was obtained in 137 (48%) of the 285 patients. All patients ful¢lled the diagnostic criteria of Hani¢n & Rajka (1). In the 285 families with unilateral AD parentage, there were 582 children (290 boys & 292 girls) who were 1 year old or more. Younger children were excluded, because it is often di¤cult to distinguish between infantile AD and infantile seborrhoeic dermatitis in early infancy (2). We asked each patient, on the ¢rst visit to our clinic, about the history of atopic diseases (AD, asthma and allergic rhinitis) in the spouse and the children. On the second consultation, we made the same inquiry and con¢rmed the atopic family history. We examined the prevalence of AD children in the 285 families with unilateral AD parentage.We then examined the prevalence of AD children in the 123 families with AD fathers and non-atopic mothers. The results were compared with the prevalence of AD children in the 162 families with non-atopic fathers and AD mothers. Di¡erences between the groups were calculated using the chi-square test.