Allergic contact dermatitis from a wooden necklace.
A 36-year-old female kitchenworker twice developed eczematous lesions corresponding exactly to the area around her neck where she had worn a wooden necklace. Contact dermatitis lasted longer than 1 week. The necklace consisted of 42 brown wooden beads and 63 other wooden parts, 0.5 to 3 cm diameter. Most parts could be identified as Cocobolo wood, Brazilian and East Indian rosewood, and teak. Patch tests with the pure constituents gave +3-reactions to three dalbergions and obtusaquinone, which are known to be the sensitizers of Cocobolo and the above-mentioned rosewoods. Because of these test results, the identification of the species by eye examination could be corroborated. Further detailed questioning revealed that the patient had played a recorder, probably made from Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa), when a child, to which she unknowingly became allergic.
Hausen
B M
BM
Dermatology Center, General Hospital, Am Krankenhaus, Buxtehude, Germany.
D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects; D002934:Cinnamates; D003512:Cyclohexanones / Q000009:adverse effects; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000209:etiology*; D004485:Eczema / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000009:adverse effects; D018514:Plant Structures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014934:Wood
D000485:Allergens; D002934:Cinnamates; D003512:Cyclohexanones; D010936:Plant Extracts; C039277:obtusaquinone