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Significantly Different Prevalences of Contact Allergy to Hydroperoxides of Linalool and Limonene When Patch Testing
Henrik Luu1, Thanisorn Sukakul1, Magnus Bruze1
1Department of Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden.
Background:
The prevalence of contact allergy to linalool hydroperoxides (HPs) and limonene HPs is high and differs in different populations. Patch test techniques might affect the results.
Objectives:
To report the prevalence of contact allergy when the HPs were tested in different test chambers.
Materials And Methods:
Consecutive adult dermatitis patients were patch tested during April 2023-July 2024 with linalool HPs and limonene HPs in Finn Chamber (FC), Finn Chamber AQUA (FCA) and IQ Ultra (IQ) chambers simultaneously.
Results:
In total, 629 patients were tested. For linalool HPs, the highest prevalence was observed in FCA (7.0%), followed by IQ chambers (5.7%) and FC (5.1%) with a significant difference between FCA and FC (p-value = 0.036). Similarly, for the limonene HPs: FCA = 7.8%, IQ = 3.8% and FC = 3.0%, with significant differences between FCA and FC, and between FCA and IQ chambers (both p-values < 0.001). Up to 40% of the doubtful cases in one chamber could become positive when tested with another test chamber.
Conclusions:
For both HPs, using different patch test chambers can affect patch test results. A doubtful reaction in one chamber tested might be a weak allergic reaction when tested with other chambers. Contact allergy might be missed.
