De rol van contactallergie bij patiënten met eczeem

- In the period 1-1-1981 to 30-6-1986, 1596 patients were patch-tested for suspected allergic contact dermatitis. 623 (39.0) proved to be hypersensitive to one or more contact allergens. In women, most reactions in the European standard series were observed to nickel sulphate (20.2), followed by the fragrance-mix (7.5 ), balsam of Peru (4.6), and cobalt chloride (4.3). In men, most positive patch test reactions were caused by the fragrancemix (5.6), balsam of Peru (4.4), and potassium bichromate (4.2). Other important causes of contact allergy were cosmetic products (65 patients) and topical pharmaceutical preparations (54 patients).

The hands were most frequently affected (45.9), followed by the faceneck (32.7), arms (25.4), legs (22.6) and the trunk (18.6).

Contact allergy played a part in de developmentpersistence of the skin eruptions in 27.9 of the patients, irritant factors in 32.2 and an atopic diathesis in 29.0.