Excited skin syndrome: study of 39 patients.

Background: Excited skin syndrome (ESS) is an adverse reaction obtained when carrying out epicutaneous patch tests, characterized by multiple positive test results, associated with one or more strongly positive tests, which are not all reproduced when the patient is tested afterward.

Objective: The aim of this study was (1) to determine the frequency of ESS in patients submitted to patch testing, (2) to confirm the influence of the evolution time of the primary dermatosis with ESS induction, (3) to determine differences among patients according the rate of positive test loss, and (4) to compare the number of positive tests for each substance between the first test, when all allergens in the test battery were applied, and the second test, when only the allergens with positive tests on the first occasion were applied at a greater distance from one another.

Methods: Epicutaneous tests were carried out in 630 patients with a suspected diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis.

Reduced nickel sensitivity in young Danish women following regulation of nickel exposure.

In most western countries, nickel is the most common contact allergen among young women. In 1991, Denmark implemented a statutory order calling for the reduction of exposure to nickel in nickel-plated items in close contact with the skin. In a retrospective analysis, a comparison is made of the number of positive patch tests to nickel seen in a private practice of dermatology before and after this statutory order was implemented.

Long-term, intermittent treatment of chronic hand eczema with mometasone furoate.

Chronic hand eczema can be incapacitating, and there is little knowledge of the efficacy and safety of long-term treatment with topical corticosteroids. We compared the efficacy and safety of two different schedules for the treatment of chronic hand eczema with a potent topical corticosteroid, mometasone furoate. In a prospective, open, randomized trial, 120 patients with chronic hand eczema were treated daily with mometasone furoate fatty cream until the dermatitis cleared or for a maximum of 9 weeks.