[Contact eczematous dermatitis caused by wheat and oats]

A 58-year old male patient was affected by a chronic dermatitis of the hands, forearms and face. Lesions appeared six months before when he started to work as a pizza-maker and worsened when he touched wheat-fluor and when he washed with an oats-derived detergent. He had a familial but not a personal history of atopic diseases. Both the Prick tests and RAST with oats and wheat flour produced positive responses. Protein contact dermatitis is a rare allergic disease caused by the contact with protein substances. It is often seen in patients working in the food industries or in the kitchens. Many of them have no other signs of atopy.