Contact allergens in a pediatric population: association with atopic dermatitis and comparison with other north american referral centers.
OBJECTIVE
The authors aimed to retrospectively identify associations between allergen sensitization frequencies and specific comorbidities in a patient population in Miami, Florida, tested between November 2004 and July 2006 with a pediatric standard series and to compare their findings to recent pediatric and adult patch testing data published by other North American referral centers.


METHODS
The authors performed a retrospective chart review evaluating the most common, clinically relevant contact allergens against the frequency of specific comorbidities, such as atopic dermatitis. The results were compared with the patch testing data from the Ottawan Contact Dermatitis Group's 1996-2006 study, the North American Contact Dermatitis Group 2001-2004 study, and the Mayo Clinic 1998-2000 study and the 2000-2006 study.


METHODS
University of Miami, Miami, Florida.


METHODS
Sixty-nine Miami children and adolescents between age six months and 18 years, having been referred for comprehensive patch testing.


METHODS
The frequency of positive patch test reactions and clinical relevance was evaluated against the frequency of comorbidities.


RESULTS
Forty-five patients met all the inclusion criteria. Of these, 95.6 percent (43 patients) had at least one positive patch test reaction, with 76.7 percent of them having a personal history of atopic dermatitis. The most common pediatric allergens were found to significantly overlap with those of other North American referral centers.


CONCLUSIONS
Allergic contact dermatitis is prevalent in atopic dermatitis; however, the authors were not able to demonstrate a statistically significant association, as the majority of patients referred had atopic dermatitis, and thus the control group was inadequate. Furthermore, allergens at the Miami center paralleled those seen at different centers within North America.
Sharon E
SE
Jacob
Aparche
A
Yang
Elise
E
Herro
Chi
C
Zhang