Cutaneous response to irritants.

We evaluated the role of pre-existing dermatitis in the response to irritants by patch testing the skin of 40 healthy volunteers and the uninvolved skin of 480 subjects for 2 days. These latter were affected by active atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema with positive and negative patch test reactions, urticaria and generalized pruritus. A first panel containing 15 micro L of aq.