Contact Dermatitis

Matthew Zirwas, MD

Dr Matt Zirwas provides us with his top ten take-home points from his workshop at MauiDerm NP+PA in Boston…

 

1. Add 10 allergens to the TRUE Test to improve diagnostic reliability dramatically.
2. OK to patch test on 10 mg of prednisone and all the antihistamine in the world.
3. OK to patch test on immunosuppressives as long as they still have some rash.
4. Final read MUST be between 96 and 120 hours after patches are put on.
5. When reading patches, what you feel is what matters, not what you see.
6. Most positive patch test reactions don’t matter and you shouldn’t even tell the patients about them.
7. Negative patch testing is extremely helpful.
8. If have relevant patch test results, must avoid information overload – tell them the minimum amount of information necessary.
9. Telling people what they CAN use is much more important that telling them what they can’t use.
10. Occupational cases almost never turn out well.