ETIOLOGY OF CONTACT DERMATITIS ON FACE IN INDIAN PATIENTS

Introduction: Facial contact dermatitis has exponentially increased in the past decade because of the freely available over the counter topical medications and the innumerable cosmetics. Patch testing is still the gold standard for diagnosis. Aims and Objectives: To elicit the patterns and specic allergens causing facial dermatitis on face in Indian patients. 50 patients of predominantly facial dermatitis with Materials and methods: suspected contact dermatitis (CD) were taken up for patch testing. The patients were tested with the Indian standard series (ISS) and Indian cosmetic series and the results were read at 48 and 96 hours. Repeated open application test (ROAT) was performed with the suspected allergens in 33 patients, and the results were read on Days 2, 4, and 7 using the Johansen's Modied scale. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.3 years with M: F ratio of 3:7. The mean duration of the complaints was 20 months, while the mean duration of exposure to the implicated allergen was 10.6 years. Patch test with ISS and cosmetic series were positive in 34% of people with 4-Phenylenediamine base PPD (1%) being the most common allergen in 14 patients. ROAT was positive in 18 patients, out of which 78% were patch test negative. Patch test has stood the test of Discussion: time as an invaluable diagnostic aid in patients with dermatitis. Sindoor dermatitis is a commonly encountered ACD in our clinics but the implicated allergens are not a part of ISS or cosmetic series. In our study, ROAT was positive in 8 patients of sindoor dermatitis who were patch test negative. Thus, ROAT should also be ideally be performed in these patients.