Managing Atopic Dermatitis and Prurigo Nodularis, with April Martinez-Dulay, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Over the course of the Dermatology Education Foundation (DERM) 2025 NP/PA CME Conference in Las Vegas, presenter April Martinez-Dulay, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, spoke with HCPLive about her session titled ‘Targeting the IL-31 Neuroimmune Pathway: A Key to AD and Prurigo Nodularis.’1

Martinez-Dulay, who works as a Consultative Complex Medical Dermatology Nurse Practitioner at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), discussed the morphology-based condition prurigo nodularis and atopic dermatitis, emphasizing the importance of recognizing pruritus, eczema, and chronic relapsing symptoms.

“I gave a pearl about atopic dermatitis, providing 3 essential criteria of interpretation,” Martinez-Dulay said. “Number 1 is your pruritus. Number 2 is your eczema, and number 3 is the chronic, limiting, relapsing condition. And there are also important features with atopic dermatitis, including atopic eczema, cirrhosis, and dryness of skin. These are kind of important things for us to remember.”

Martinez-Dulay also discussed several points related to psoriasis, highlighting locations on which the condition is commonly found.

“In the textbook, we find them at the scalp, the elbows, the knees, and a very, very important area to look for is under the gluteal cleft,” Martinez-Dulay explained. “So you look at the pinking in the gluteal cleft, and that is psoriasis. For atopic dermatitis, when the patient tells you I feel like I'm allergic to my sweat, and that is her AD.”

Later, Martinez-Dulay discussed some of the topics highlighted in her talk titled ‘Surfing through the Diagnostic Maze of Dermatitis and Lymphoma,’ including a particular case that led her to the conclusion that a lack of responses to therapies should lead to a biopsy of a lesion.2 This may then lead to a diagnosis of lymphoma.

For any additional information on these topics, view the full interview segment above. To find out more from DERM 2025, view the latest conference coverage.

The quotes used in this interview were edited for clarity.

References

1. Martinez-Dulay, A. Targeting the IL-31 Neuroimmune Pathway: A Key to AD and Prurigo Nodularis. Presented at DERM 2025 NP PA CME Conference; July 23-26, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada.

2. Martinez-Dulay, A. Surfing through the Diagnostic Maze of Dermatitis and Lymphoma. Presented at DERM 2025 NP PA CME Conference; July 23-26, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada.