Topical Problems of Contact Allergy

Overview

The authors draw attention to the increased incidence of contact allergy. They analyze thesensitization process and algorithms when resolving the diagnosis of contact allergy (basic case-his-tory, clinical manifestations, patch tests, verified case-history, interpretation and clinical relevanceof tests). During interpretation it is important to respect the causes of false positive and false negativereactions. The most important part of the work is analysis of relevance of tests. This impliesanamnestic relevance (contact with the allergen in the past) or actual relevance (simple correlation,the allergen is a derivative of the assessed substance, the allergen is detected only by microanalyticevidence or comprehensive allergological analysis). Special attention is paid to a routine or standardseries of contact allergens which is the only diagnostic method supplementing the allergologialcase-history or detection of so-called latent allergens. Attention is drawn to shortcomings of existingroutine series. The dermatoallergologist should focus his work in particular on individual, speciallycontact allergens, and this calls for a high quality case-history.

Key words:
contact allergy - sensitiziation process - algorithms in the diagnosis of contact allergy