To the Editor.—
In the June Archives (112:880-881, 1976) we reported the results of a paired comparison, double-blind study, which showed a cream containing caffeine in hydrophilic base was superior to a hydrophilicbase placebo in producing a subjective feeling of improvement in patients with atopic dermatitis. In an effort to pursue this further, we designed another study, this time using a 30% caffeine cream.The first 40 consecutively seen patients from our dermatology outpatient clinic with typical manifestations of atopic dermatitides who agreed to participate in the study were randomly assigned to either the caffeine or placebo group. Each patient received only one product, either the caffeine cream or the placebo. The identities of the coded creams were unknown to both the patient and the physician. Patients were observed weekly over a three-week period. Each patient was checked for pruritus, erythema, scaling, lichenification, oozing, and excoriation. Twenty-eight patients satisfactorily completed