The Results of Patch Testing in Patients With Contact Dermatitis in Eastern Turkey

Abstract

Background and Design: Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a type IV allergic reaction, which occurs after re-exposure to a previous allergen. The patch testing (PT) is useful to confirm the diagnosis of ACD. Material and Method: The study included 115 patients diagnosed with ACD by using PT in our outpatient clinic. Medical records of the patients were retrospectively analyzed. The data including age, gender, place of residence, occupation, location and feature of the skin lesions, history of food and drug allergy, family history of allergic skin reactions, personal history of allergic skin lesions, and the PT results were recorded. Results: Of the 115 patients, 54 (47%) were females and 61 (53%) were males. The mean age of the patients was 33.42 (range: 7-69) years and the majority of them were housewives (44.7%) and navvies (17.6%). In 65 patients, at least one allergen was identified. In 50 patients, no specific allergen was found. The most common location of skin lesions was on the hands. The positive findings of PT with certain substances were as follows: nickel sulphate-24.3%, potassium dichromate-16.5%, thiuram mix-13.0%, cobalt chloride-12.3%, paraben mix-6.1%, colophony-4.4%, peru balsam-4.4%, perfume mix-3.5%, quaternium-15 2.7%, mercaptobenzothiozole-2.6%, mercapto mix-2.6%, formaldehyde-1.8%, paraphenyl-endiamine-1.8%, epoxy resin-0.9%, and chloromethylisothiazolone-0.9%. None of the patients showed any reaction to neomycin sulfate, butylphenol formaldehyde, wool alcohol, N-isopropyl-N-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine and benzocaine. Conclusions: This is the first study on PT in patients with ACD in our region, Eastern Turkey; therefore, we think that our results may help clinicians to recognize and diagnose patients with allergic skin disorders. (Turkderm 2011; 45: 19-23)