Testing with musk ambrette and congeners in a case of photosensitivity dermatitis and actinic reticuloid syndrome (PD/AR).

The response of a patient with the PD/AR syndrome to patch and photopatch testing with musk ambrette, musk ketone, and musk xylol was investigated. In addition, solutions of these nitro-musks were allowed to photodecompose prior to patch and photopatch testing. Only the photopatch tests with musk ambrette and with the photodecomposed musk ambrette gave positive results. The results do not provide support for the hypothesis that photocontact allergy to musk ambrette is in fact a contact allergy to a photodecomposition product of musk ambrette.