Depigmented contact dermatitis due to incense.
A 63-year-old male school teacher with itchy depigmented macules on his left dorsum manus, left shoulder and abdomen presented at our clinic on 8 July 1986. He had practiced the incense ceremony for about 15 years, and had burnt several incenses and sandalwood. 48 h closed patch testing revealed perfume in the incenses was the cause. We assumed that perfume in the incense was volatized in air when incense was burnt; skin surface contact occurred with airborne particle, which dissolved in sebum; thus allergic contact dermatitis accompanied by depigmentation might arise.
D003877:Dermatitis, Contact / Q000209:etiology*; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010476:Perfume / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D000081223:Polycyclic Sesquiterpenes; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000009:adverse effects; D012882:Skin Tests
D004136:Dinitrobenzenes; D010476:Perfume; D000081223:Polycyclic Sesquiterpenes; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C043206:santalol; C020422:musk ambrette (artificial)