Epidemiological study of periocular dermatitis in a specialised hospital department.

Contact dermatitis is frequent skin pathology and eyelids are one of the more frequent locations of this pathology. The objective of the present work was to study the population distribution of periocular dermatitis, determine the allergens which most frequently indicate positive in patch tests and in provocative use tests, and analyse the clinical relevance of the positive tests.Patients with periocular dermatitis (N=93) underwent a thorough physical examination and a patch test with standard series. According to clinical suspicions, 76 patients underwent a patch test with specific series. Finally a provocative use test was done for 36 patients with suspected products that the patients brought. The tests were classified according their relevance.The most frequently observed allergen in the patch tests (with standard and specific series) was nickel followed by mercury, and anti-glaucoma drops in the provocative use tests with patients products.Patients' sex, age, occupation, clinical status, presence of associated periocular symptoms, and presence of atopic or seborrheic dermatitis and/or rosacea did not relate with relevance.We conclude that a clinical diagnosis may not always be made with patch tests with standard and specific series due to lack of relevance. It is important to do provocative use tests with the products suspected as allergens in those cases where patch tests with standard and specific series indicated positive for more than one allergen.