Contact dermatitis mimickers: a tertiary care center's experience

Contact dermatitis (CD) is very common but can be mimicked by numerous dermatologic conditions. Thus, a wide differential must be considered before a definitive diagnosis of CD is made to ensure the patient receives appropriate treatment and follow-up.

To describe conditions that can present similarly to contact dermatitis.

We retrospectively analyzed patients referred to the Occupational Disease Specialized Program at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto between 2009 and 2011 for CD investigations but with a final diagnosis other than CD.

We report cases of 2 feet-1 hand syndrome, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, Sézary syndrome and two cases of Pityriasis Rubra Pilaris misdiagnosed as CD and referred for patch testing at our busy tertiary care centre. Failing to recognize these mimickers of CD resulted in a significant delay in diagnosis for the patients and resulting initiation of necessary intervention.

It is important to consider numerous mimickers before making a diagnosis of CD to ensure optimal outcome for patients.