Allergic contact dermatitis.

Abstract

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a common skin disease caused by a T cell-mediated immune reaction to usually innocuous allergens. ACD can have grave medical and socioeconomic consequences. ACD and irritant contact dermatitis often occur together. A detailed history and clinical examination are crucial and guide patch testing, which is the gold standard to diagnose ACD. T-cell clones persisting in the skin may explain the tendency of ACD to relapse even after years of allergen avoidance. Traditional treatments for ACD are topical steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, phototherapy, retinoids (including the recent alitretinoin), and immunosuppressants. Targeted therapies are lacking. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iac.2016.08.014 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-130081 Journal Article Accepted Version The following work is licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Originally published at: Kostner, Lisa; Anzengruber, Florian; Guillod, Caroline; Recher, Mike; Schmid-Grendelmeier, Peter; Navarini, Alexander A (2017). Allergic contact dermatitis. Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America, 37(1):141-152. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iac.2016.08.014 Allergic Contact Dermatitis Authors: Lisa Kostner (MD), Florian Anzengruber (MD), Caroline Guillod (MD), Peter SchmidGrendelmeier (MD) 1 and Alexander Navarini (MD, PhD) Author information Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Corresponding author: alexander.navarini@usz.ch