Clinico etiological study of allergic contact dermatitis with patch testing

Patch testing is a scientific tool to make a diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). It thus exposes the prevalence and current trends of allergic contact dermatitis in the community. As for now, there is no data on allergic contact dermatitis with patch testing in our area Tirunelveli. AIM : To study the incidence, clinical severity and morphological patterns of ACD in correlation with patch test results. METHODS : This is an observational, prospective, single group, open labelled clinical study. 100 patients were recruited in the study duing the period of June 2014 to August 2015. The Indian Standard Series was used from Systopic pharmaceuticals pvt limited, Newdelhi. The patch test readings were interpreted according to ICDRG criteria. RESULTS : Of 100 patients(75 males, 25 females), 89 patients showed one or more positive reactions to patch test. Cement dermatitis(38%) was commonest in our study followed by Parthenium dermatitis(25%). Potassium dichromate was the commonest allergen followed by Parthenium hysterophorus. Nickel sulphate was the commonest allergen in females. Hands and/or feet were the most common pattern observed in the study followed by contact site eczema. The clinical severity had no correlation with patch test severity. CONCLUSION : Our study revealed higher prevalence of cement and parthenium dermatitis in our area. Analysis with standard series is very significant to identify the cause of contact dermatitis and thus by avoiding the allergen, decrease the management cost and better quality of life.