Standard and Expanded Series Patch Testing Update by the Spanish Contact Dermatitis and Skin Allergy Research Group (GEIDAC). / Actualización de la batería estándar y batería ampliada de pruebas alérgicas de contacto por el Grupo Español de Investigación en Dermatitis de Contacto y Alergia Cutánea (GEIDAC).

After the meeting held by the Spanish Contact Dermatitis and Skin Allergy Research Group (GEIDAC) back in October 2021, changes were suggested to the Spanish standard series patch testing. Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (2% pet.), textile dye mixt (6.6% pet.), linalool hydroperoxide (1% pet.), and limonene hydroperoxide (0.3% pet.) were, then, added to the series that agreed upon in 2016. Ethyldiamine and phenoxyethanol were excluded. Methyldibromoglutaronitrile, the mixture of sesquiterpene lactones, and hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene (Lyral) were alo added to the extended Spanish series of 2022.

[Diagnostic keys for disseminated eczema: experience of a Dermatitis Contact unit (2003-2019)].

The aim of this study was to establish the diagnoses of patients with disseminated eczema and analyze the allergens involved in disseminated eczema due to allergic contact dermatitis. We analyzed the data from patients with a diagnosis of disseminated / generalized eczema who had undergone anamnesis, physical examination and patch tests in a Contact Dermatitis consultation from 2003 to 2019. Allergic contact dermatitis was the most frequent diagnosis, folowed by atopic dermatitis, asteatotic eczema, and gravitational eczema. The allergens most frequently involved in allergic contact dermatitis were isothiazolinones, topical medications, paraphenylenediamine, and fragrances. Allergic contact dermatitis caused almost half of the cases of disseminated eczema. It would be therefore advisable for patients with disseminated eczema to be assessed at a Contact Dermatitis unit and undergo patch tests.

Guidelines for the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Hand Eczema. / Guía para el diagnóstico, el tratamiento y la prevención del eccema de manos.

Hand eczema is a common condition associated with significantly impaired quality of life and high social and occupational costs. Managing hand eczema is particularly challenging for primary care and occupational health physicians as the condition has varying causes and both disease progression and response to treatment are difficult to predict. Early diagnosis and appropriate protective measures are essential to prevent progression to chronic eczema, which is much more difficult to treat. Appropriate referral to a specialist and opportune evaluation of the need for sick leave are crucial to the good management of these patients. These guidelines cover the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of chronic hand eczema and highlight the role that primary care and occupational health physicians can play in the early management of this disease.

[Dermoscopic signs as predictors of non-response to imiquimod treatment in superficial basal cell carcinoma]. / Criterios dermatoscópicos como predictores de ausencia de respuesta a tratamiento con imiquimod en carcinomas basocelulares superficiales.

BACKGROUND: To describe the dermoscopic features in superficial basal cell carcinoma that are associated with a poor therapeutic response to imiquimod treatment. METHOD: Clinical and dermatoscopic photographs of 56 superficial basal cell carcinomas of different patients were compared retrospectively, assessed in our office for five years and treated with topic 5% imiquimod five days a week for six weeks. The different dermatoscopic signs of the lesions were identified and the association of each of them with the response to treatment was assessed. RESULTS: A total response to treatment was achieved by 69.5% of the lesions of patients treated with imiquimod. Dermatoscopy of responding lesions showed a higher frequency of lesions with in focus gray dots (43.6%) and multiple erosions of less than 2 mm (61.5%), without observing statistically significant differences. Within the group with poor response to treatment, a greater number of lesions were found with the presence of arborizing telangiectasias (58.8%), blue-gray ovoid nests (41.1%), ulceration (58.8%), shiny white-red structureless areas (82.2%) and chrysalis (41.2%). The areas in blue-white veil areas (23.5%) and rainbow pattern (23.5%) were only observed in non-responding lesions. Both groups were similar regarding age, sex, diameter of lesions and frequency of some dermatoscopic signs: fine short telangiectasias, gray blue globules, arc-leaf areas and cart-wheel structures. CONCLUSION: The study identified dermatoscopic criteria that are significantly associated with a worse response to treatment with imiquimod. In contrast, we found no dermatoscopic signs that correlate specifically to a complete response to treatment.

The Spanish standard patch test series: 2016 update by the Spanish Contact Dermatitis and Skin Allergy Research Group (GEIDAC). / Actualización de la serie estándar española de pruebas alérgicas de contacto por el Grupo Español de Investigación en Dermatitis de Contacto y Alergia Cutánea (GEIDAC) para 2016.

The Spanish standard patch test series, as recommended by the Spanish Contact Dermatitis and Skin Allergy Research Group (GEIDAC), has been updated for 2016. The new series replaces the 2012 version and contains the minimum set of allergens recommended for routine investigation of contact allergy in Spain from 2016 onwards. Four haptens -clioquinol, thimerosal, mercury, and primin- have been eliminated owing to a low frequency of relevant allergic reactions, while 3 new allergens -methylisothiazolinone, diazolidinyl urea, and imidazolidinyl urea- have been added. GEIDAC has also modified the recommended aqueous solution concentrations for the 2 classic, major haptens methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone, which are now to be tested at 200ppm in aqueous solution, and formaldehyde, which is now to be tested in a 2% aqueous solution. Updating the Spanish standard series is one of the functions of GEIDAC, which is responsible for ensuring that the standard series is suited to the country's epidemiological profile and pattern of contact sensitization.

[Secondary effects of topical application of an essential oil. Allergic contact dermatitis due to tea tree oil]. / Efectos secundarios de la aplicación tópica de un aceite de esencial. Dermatitis alérgica de contacto a aceite de árbol de té.

BACKGROUND: Tea tree oil is an essential oil, whose use is increasing in our setting, due both to its supposed medicinal effects and to its aromatic properties. We describe our experience with allergic contact dermatitis following the application of this oil. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five patients in the last 5 years (0.4% of all the patients studied in specialized consultation) reacted to a 5% concentration of tea tree oil in Vaseline. RESULTS: All the patients presented strong reactions, and in all cases these were considered relevant. Three of them also reacted to oxidized d-limonene, one of the components of tea tree oil, which is present in our standard series. CONCLUSIONS: Different cases have been described in the literature on allergic contact dermatitis due to tea tree oil, but until recently it was infrequent in our setting. With the increased popularity of alternative and natural therapies we have witnessed several cases of sensitization to this essential oil, which had been used to treat several supposedly "infectious" skin diseases, but which were very probably different forms of dermatitis.

[Lip eczema. Experience in the Contact Dermatitis Unit of a Spanish tertiary hospital]. / Eccema de labios. Experiencia en la Unidad de Eccema de Contacto de un centro terciario español.

BACKGROUND: Lip eczema is an infrequent problem in Contact Dermatitis Units (CDU). Very few series have been published to date that show the profiles of such patients and the causes of their eczemas, and none are Spanish. The goal of this study was to analyze the epidemiological profile of the patients who attend a CDU in our setting, the main diagnoses and the relevant allergens. METHODS: A retrospective review was made of the patients referred to the CDU in the 2005-2014 period. Patch tests were carried out with the extended standard series of the Spanish Research Group on Allergic Contact Dermatitis (Grupo Español de Investigación en Dermatitis Alérgica de contacto - GEIDAC), our own products and other complementary sets. RESULTS: The most frequent diagnoses in the 78 patients studied were allergic contact dermatitis and atopic dermatitis. The most frequent relevant allergens were cosmetics and topical medications. CONCLUSIONS: It is essential to study the patients with lip eczema with patch tests to be able to correctly determine their etiology and accordingly to carry out the most suitable treatment.