engleski

Retrospective Survey of Patch Testing at Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Zagreb University Hospital Center in Zagreb, Croatia

Epicutaneous (patch) test is a standard test to confirm contact allergy. During a six-year period (1998-2003), contact allergic dermatitis was diagnosed in 4132 (65%) of 6341 patients using standard patch test with a Croatian series of allergens according to the International Contact Dermatitis Research Group (ICDRG). The most common clinical diagnoses related to contact allergy (male ; female) were contact allergic dermatitis (65.4% ; 72.2%) ; atopic dermatitis (15.9% ; 11.7%) ; contact irritant dermatitis (7.0% ; 6.6%) and nummular eczematoid dermatitis (4.2% ; 2.4%). According to occupation, positive patch test reaction was most commonly observed in workers, whereas 65% of patients showed positive reactions to one or more substances. There was an increased frequency of positive patch test reactions to potassium dichromate, nickel sulfate, thimerosal and neomycine sulfate, along with a significant decrease in the frequency of positive patch test reactions to cobalt chloride, carba mix, wood tars, detergents, parabens mixture, urushiol and rubber mixture. We strongly recommend keeping up- to-date with the epidemiology of contact allergy in Croatia.

contact sensitivity ; epidemiology ; patch testing

nije evidentirano