Results of routine office patch testing

The results of patch testing over the past 18 months in a general dermatology clinic are presented and compared with the data recently reported by the North American Contact Dermatitis Group. Good correlation exists between the results of the two studies for all the reported allergens except nickel sulfate and potassium dichromate. The increased incidence of sensitivity to these allergens reported in our series probably reflects the tendency for all metal related contact dermatitis to be referred to our clinic, even though recognized as such by the referring physician. The 16.8% reactivity to a dye mix used in our screening kit, and not reported by others, proved most interesting. In the light of continuing reports of dye related allergic contact dermatitis, our experience prompts us to suggest that a dye mix of some sort should be evaluated in future large-scale studies of patch test screening kits.