Patch test results of the European baseline series among patients with contact dermatitis in hands

Abstract

Background: Allergic contact dermatitis of the hands is a common occupational and environmental health issue. Job-related hands dermatitis ranks top in the list of reported occupational diseases. Objectives: To describe the patch test reactivity to allergens in the European baseline series of patients with hand dermatitis. Methods: Clinical and patch test data collected by the Euro- pean Surveillance System on Contact Allergies (ESSCA) network in 2013 from Lithuania were analysed. Results: Patch test results with the European baseline series obtained in 97 patients, aged 12 to 77 years, with hand dermati- tis (HD). Nickel sulfate was the most frequent sensitizer (14.4 %), followed by methylchloroisothiazolinone (9.3 %), cobalt chloride (6.2 %), colophony (rosin) (6.2 %), formaldehyde (6.2 %), and potassium dichromate (5.2 %). Most commonly in HD, the palms were affected (44.3 %). In the HD subgroup, 24 patients worked in office (but only 4 of these had occupational dermatitis), and 12 each were unemployed or retired, respectively. Conclusions: Nickel sulfate remains the most common aller- gen in patients with contact dermatitis of the hands. Although certainly not clinically relevant in each case, the role of nickel exposure also by repeated short contact in perpetuating HD, occupational or otherwise, should not be underestimated.