Premium
Contact allergy to colophony and hand eczema
Author(s) -
Färm Guniilla
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0536.1996.tb02137.x
Subject(s) - patch test , contact allergy , medicine , allergy , contact dermatitis , allergic contact dermatitis , dermatology , hand eczema , patch testing , immunology
Colophony is commonly used in many products that we are exposed to both at work and during leisure. At our Department, about 5% of patch tested dermatitis patients show positive reactions of colophony. 83 patients in whom contact allergy to colophony had been diagnosed were followed up after 9–13 years. They were interviewed, examined and retested. At least 30% had current hand eczema on follow‐up examination. Among those in whom the dermatitis had started on the hands. I here were proportionally more individuals with current hand eczema than among those in whom the onset had been on other parts of the body, 72% of the participants were still patch‐test‐positive to colophony, and more than 1/2 had additional positive reactions to other allergens. Some of these additional reactions were new compared to the previous test occasion. The degree of exposure to colophony throughout the years was difficult to estimate. Contact allergy to colophony was considered occupational in individuals with, e.g., soldering jobs.