To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Patch Testing Effective for Paediatric Allergic Contact Dermatitis: Presented at AAD URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/21CB0E.htm Doctor's Guide February 8, 2008
By Bruce Sylvester SAN ANTONIO, TX -- February 8, 2008 -- Patch testing is an underutilised but effective method of testing children for the causes of allergic contact dermatitis, researchers reported at the American Academy of Dermatology 66th Annual Meeting (AAD). Lead investigator Lonnie Hammonds, MD, senior resident at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, presented the findings in a poster session on February 3. "Children are not usually patch tested for contact dermatitis," said presenter and. "However, we found, in this review of the Mayo Jacksonville experience, that it was a very effective way of testing for allergens those children who present with contact dermatitis." The investigators conducted a retrospective review of the Mayo patch test database, searching for data on all children 18 or younger who were tested between 2000 and 2006. They found 136 children ages 3 to 18 years who presenting with allergic contact dermatitis and had been patch tested. Of the 136 subjects, 66% were female and 34% were male; 80% were equally distributed between age groups 11 to 15 and 16 to 18. The remainder were 10 years or younger. The researchers reported that 61% of the children tested positive to one or more allergens. Boys under 10 years were most likely to have a positive patch test, and the percent of positive tests in males decreased with increasing age. Girls under 10 were less likely to have a positive test than older girls. The most common allergens were nickel, cobalt, gold, and thimerosol. Dr. Hammonds concluded, "Patch testing in general has a high diagnostic value when a patient presents with atopic dermatitis, and we see that it can be very useful in the paediatric population. However, many physicians are hesitant to use the patch test with children. We encourage physicians to expand their use of patch testing in the paediatric population." [Presentation title: Allergic Contact Dermatitis in 136 Children Patch Tested Between 2000 and 2006. Poster P701] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.