Allergic contact dermatitis to petrolatum: An unknown for patch testing

摘要

Petrolatum (or vaseline) is a widely used topical agent due to its properties, such as upregulation in antimicrobial peptides, skin hydration and barrier repair.1 It is recognized to be non-irritating and very rarely sensitizing; therefore, it is used as a vehicle for many topical substances, including most allergens for patch testing. In literature has been reported a review regarding use, safety and history of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to petrolatum and how is difficult to recognize. CASE REPORT A 63-year-old patient with a long-time history of atopic dermatitis (AD) presented with a 3-week history of well-demarcated, pruritic, scaly, erythematous patch on photo-exposed skin areas. He noticed that the lesions had occurred after the use of non-specified emollients used as after-sun care. A 10-day prednisone (25?mg/day) treatment led to healing. Patch test with the Società Italiana di Dermatologia Allergologica Professionale e Ambientale (SIDAPA) baseline series 2016 (FIRMA, Florence, Italy) was performed.