SENSIBILIZZAZIONE DA CONTATTO A FARMACI PER USO TOPICO

An increasing number of patients are found to be suffering from allergic contact dermatitis to topical agents. In order to collect data on a population selected in relation to the continuous use of multiple topical products, a total of 84 patients (39 suffering from psoriasis, 31 from leg ulcers, 8 from dermatophytic infection and 6 from eczema) have been tested against a standard battery of allergens. 37 subjects were also patch tested with allergens containing active drugs. 41.6% of patients showed a positive reaction to one (34.3%) or more (65.7%) allergens. Patients suffering from leg ulcers with stasis dermatitis reached the highest incidence of positivities (58.1%), followed by patients suffering from atopic demratitis (50%), dermatophytic infections (50%), and psoriasis (25.6%). Dermatitis duration, in particular ulcer duration, correlated with the increased number of reactions. The occurrence of multiple sensitivity was also greater in leg ulcer. In our series wood tars (25.7%), balsam of Peru (22.9%), parabens (20%), ammoniated mercury (17.1%) elicited positive reactions most frequently, whereas neomycin and benzocaine, formerly primary allergens in medicament dermatitis, accounted only for 11.4% and 5.7% of cases of sensitization.