Korean J Dermatol.  2010 Jan;48(1):26-32.

The Patch Test as a Useful Tool for Avoiding Suspected Allergens in Patients with Hand Eczema

• Kim GW
• Kim HS
• Kim SH
• Jung DS
• Ko HC
• Kim MB
• Kwon KS

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Hand eczema is a common skin disease in the general population. The etiology of hand eczema is obscure and many causative factors have been proposed. However, there are only a few reported studies of the relevance of contact allergy in hand eczema.
Objective
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of the patch test for patients with hand eczema.
METHODS
We analyzed the clinical characteristics and the results of the patch tests of the 37 patients with hand eczema and we then compared these with the clinical subtypes.
RESULTS
26 patients (70.3%) showed a positive test to one or more allergens. The common allergens were nickel sulfate (35.1%), mercury ammonium chloride (21.6%), and cobalt chloride (18.9%). The positive rates for a patch test were 82.4% for the vesicular form, 77.8% for the fissured form, 20.0% for the hyperkeratotic form and 66.7% for pompholyx, respectively. We found more significant improvement of the clinical symptoms in the vesicular group (57.1%) than that in the non-vesicular group (9.3%) after avoiding the verified allergens.
CONCLUSION
This study shows that the patch test is a useful tool for the detection of contact allergens and it must be performed for the patients with hand eczema, and especially for those patients with the vesicular type.

Keyword

Allergic contact dermatitis; Hand eczema; Occupation; Patch test

MeSH Terms

Allergens
Ammonia
Ammonium Chloride
Cobalt
Dermatitis, Allergic Contact
Eczema
Eczema, Dyshidrotic
Hand
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Mercuric Chloride
Nickel
Occupations
Patch Tests
Skin Diseases
Allergens
Ammonia
Ammonium Chloride
Cobalt
Mercuric Chloride
Nickel