Abstract

Allergic contact dermatitis is a relatively common skin disease. The external agents causing it are changing in time.

At the clinic of dermatology of Tartu University 1724 patients were patch tested between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2013. 78.5% of all patients were women. All patients were tested with contact allergens of European Standard series bought from Hal Allergie GMBH, Düsseldorf, Deutschland or Chemotechnique Diagnostics, Vellinge, Sweden. European Standard series includes metals (nickel chrome, cobalt), allergens of skin care products such as preservatives, fragrances, black rubber chemicals, some topical remedies and botanical allergens.

At least one positive patch test result was found in 36.7% of the patients. The most prevalent allergens were nickel sulfate (17.6%), formaldehyde (7.1%), methylisothiasolinone (4.0%), balsam of Peru (3.2%), fragrances (3.1%), and colophony (2.7%).

In conclusion, our patients are more often sensitized to formaldehyde as compared to other European countries. There has also been an increase in methylisothiazolinone contact allergy in recent years. We have detected paraphenylene diamine allergy in children due to previous black henna tattoos.