[Airbone contact dermatitis caused by latex exposure: a clinical case]

We describe the case of a nurse who showed eczematous lesions wide-spread over the neck and face. She worked as a attendant to a surgical chamber and wore vinyl gloves because of previous episodes of contact dermatitis caused by rubber gloves. The allergologic examination demonstrated that total IgE was 69.8 kU/1, both the Skin prick tests and the patch test for latex were positive. Persisting her dermatological symptomatology, in the suspicion of a airborne contact dermatitis, the nurse was removed and addressed to administrative functions for detecting the clinical follow-up. Fortunately, the eczematous manifestations spontaneously disappeared immediately after her transfer. In this case the presence of eczema mainly on air-exposed areas was interpreted as a sign of airborne contact dermatitis to latex. The case is reported in that the clinical picture is not very common.