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Hand eczema in metalworker trainees--an analysis of risk factors.

The present study, as part of PROMETES (Swiss Prospective Metal Worker Eczema Study), was performed to examine risk factors for the development of occupational hand dermatitis in metal-worker trainees. Since this disease is very common, a high standard of preventive measures is necessary, especially for persons with an endogenous disposition for the development of eczema, e.g., atopics. Within the cohort of 201 healthy young men, 47 (23%) showed at least mild signs of hand eczema at 1 point of the 2.5 year observation period. Various occupational and domestic exposures, skin protection behaviour, regeneration time, and smoking habits, as well as atopic disposition, were studied with regard to their influence on the skin condition of the metalworker trainees. By multivariate analysis, we determined 3 important risk factors for the development of hand eczema in the cohort. (i) We showed once more the important influence of an atopic disposition as a major risk factor for occupational contact dermatitis. (ii) Furthermore, the results suggest that, apart from chemical irritants, mechanical factors should not be underestimated in their role as irritants to the epidermal barrier. (iii) Additionally, an insufficient amount of skin recovery time seems to support a cumulative sub-irritant effect on the skin, which may lead to irritant contact dermatitis.

Dermatitis, Occupational↗

Validity of self-reports of hand eczema.

The validity of questionnaire answers with respect to hand eczema was investigated. Car mechanics, dentists and office workers answered a questionnaire on the occurrence of hand eczema on any occasion during the past 12 months. "Yes"-responders and a random sample of "no"-responders were subsequently interviewed and examined by a dermatologist. 10.0% of the car mechanics, 12.0% of the dentists and 12.5% of the office workers were found to have hand eczema despite previous "no"-answers. In the same populations, 81%, 94% and 80% of the "yes"-answers were confirmed at the clinical examination. Considering false-negative and false-positive answers, the sensitivity was 53-59% and the specificity 96-99% in the 3 groups. The 1-year prevalence changed from self-reported 15% to estimated 21% in the car mechanics, from 15% to 24% in the dentists and from 15% to 23% in the office workers. It is concluded that self-reported 1-year prevalence of hand eczema considerably underestimates the true prevalence.

Adult↗

Birth order and sibship size as independent risk factors for asthma, allergy, and eczema.

This study was carried out to disentangle the independent relations of birth order and sibship size with the presence of asthma, allergy and eczema. In a retrospective study, 700 families in the Netherlands were selected with index children born in 1988-90. Data were extracted from reports of health examinations at the age of 6 years of these children and their siblings. Birth order, and not sibship size, appeared to be a strong risk factor for allergy (excluding eczema). Children with higher birth order had a lower risk of allergy compared with first-borns (adjusted odds ratios: 0.43, 0.26 and 0.05 for second-, third- and fourth- or higher borns, respectively; p < 0.0001). Allergy including eczema also had a significant relation with birth order (p = 0.01). For asthma there appeared no clear relation with birth order. For asthma a non-significant relationship with sibship size (adjusted for birth order) was found (p = 0.06): first-born children in small sibships were more at risk than those in larger sibships. For allergy and eczema no such trend was observed. In conclusion, birth order is inversely related to the risk of allergy, independent of the size of the sibship.

Asthma↗

Long-term, intermittent treatment of chronic hand eczema with mometasone furoate.

Chronic hand eczema can be incapacitating, and there is little knowledge of the efficacy and safety of long-term treatment with topical corticosteroids. We compared the efficacy and safety of two different schedules for the treatment of chronic hand eczema with a potent topical corticosteroid, mometasone furoate. In a prospective, open, randomized trial, 120 patients with chronic hand eczema were treated daily with mometasone furoate fatty cream until the dermatitis cleared or for a maximum of 9 weeks. Those who cleared were randomized to treatment for up to 36 weeks with mometasone furoate on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday (group A), mometasone furoate on Saturday and Sunday (group B) or no further corticosteroid treatment (group C). In the event of relapse, patients were permitted daily treatment with mometasone furoate for 3 weeks on two separate occasions. For 50 of 106 randomized patients, daily treatment for 3 weeks controlled their dermatitis; 29 needed 6 weeks and 27 needed 9 weeks of treatment. During the maintenance phase, 29 of 35 (83%) in group A, 25 of 37 (68%) in group B and nine of 34 (26%) in group C had no recurrences (P = 0.001, chi2-test). Side-effects were minimal. It is concluded that long-term, intermittent treatment of chronic hand eczema with mometasone furoate fatty cream is effective and safe.

Adolescent↗

Hand eczema in twins: a questionnaire investigation.

Hand eczema in a population-based twin cohort of 6666 persons aged 20-44 years was investigated by means of a questionnaire regarding skin symptoms on the hands and self- or physician-diagnosed hand eczema. Genetic influence was observed by significant differences between identical and fraternal twins regarding casewise concordance rate and correlations in liability under the threshold model. The casewise concordance rates were almost twice as high in identical compared with fraternal twins in both sexes. By extension of the threshold model a joint analysis could be performed, resulting in a heritability estimate of 0.65. Tendencies towards stronger genetic influence for men and for younger individuals were present, but neither was statistically significant. No particular symptom pattern expressed especially strong or weak genetic influence. Hereditary factors for hand eczema were observed despite a presumably substantial individual-specific environmental variation. The hypothesis that hereditary risk factors may play a significant part in the development of hand eczema in the general population, when no extreme environmental exposure exists, seems justifiable. The relevance of known individual risk factors such as atopic dermatitis or contact allergy in relation to heredity remains to be analysed. The possible importance of age and temporal change also needs further consideration.

Adult↗

Neonatal head circumference, neonatal weight, and risk of hayfever, asthma and eczema in a large cohort of adolescents from Sheffield, England.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal physical characteristics, including head circumference and birth weight, have been hypothesized to be markers of in utero thymic development. Greater head circumference and lower birth weight have been linked in previous studies to subsequent development of asthma, and greater birth weight has been associated with subsequent development of eczema. OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential associations between neonatal head circumference and weight and hayfever, asthma and eczema in a cohort of adolescents from Sheffield, England. METHODS: Responses to a questionnaire inquiring about physician-diagnosed hayfever, asthma and eczema among adolescents in Sheffield, England, were linked to previously recorded measurements of weight at birth and at 1 month and head circumference at 1 month. Logistic regression methods were used to relate diagnoses to neonatal measurements and potential confounders. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 10,809 adolescents, of whom 16.5% reported hayfever, 18.0% asthma, and 16.2% eczema. After adjusting for sex, age at the time of the questionnaire, maternal age and gestational age at birth, number of older and younger siblings, time since birth of next older sibling, neonatal sickness, type of neonatal feeding, and maternal and paternal educational backgrounds, hayfever was the only disease associated with neonatal measurements. Comparing the highest with the lowest fifths of distributions, lifetime prevalence of hayfever was positively associated with neonatal head circumference (adjusted odds ratio 1.23, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.47) and with birth weight (1.17, 0.99 to 1.39). Hayfever was inversely related to the ratio of head circumference to birth weight (0.89, 0.75 to 1.05) and to gestational age. The associations with head circumference and birth weight were not substantially altered by further adjustment for gestational age. CONCLUSION: Greater neonatal head circumference may be associated with an increased risk of hayfever, but the inverse relationship between hayfever prevalence and the ratio of head circumference to birth weight challenges the prior hypothesis that greater head circumference relative to body mass reflects abnormal thymic development in utero, increasing the likelihood of allergic sensitization.

Adolescent↗

Advised best practice for the use of emollients in eczema and other dry skin conditions.

The recent Dermatological Care Working Group report highlighted important deficiencies in the dermatology service in the UK and recommended that care should move closer to the patient. The report stated that 'expert patients' could become 'sharers in their care' and are best placed to improve their own self management. One area that could benefit greatly from increased patient education and participation is the use of emollients. Emollients are frequently prescribed for patients with eczema and other dry skin conditions. Although the benefits of emollient therapy are widely accepted, prescribing practices vary considerably, often according to physicians' individual preferences. Patients can receive confusing or conflicting treatment advice, leading to frustration, non-compliance, and difficulty in following an effective regimen. To promote the effective use of emollients it is important for patients and health professionals to understand the functions of the skin and the principles of emollient use and application. We propose a set of simple guidelines for emollient therapy in eczema care to improve day-to-day management by health professionals in the community and to promote consistent practices by patients. These guidelines form the ABC dry skin and eczema management programme supported by the National Eczema Society and accredited by the British Skin Foundation.

Eczema↗

Permeability of the small intestine to [51Cr]EDTA in children with acute gastroenteritis or eczema.

Increased gut permeability to macromolecules is thought to be an important factor in the development of food hypersensitivity. The latter can develop in the course of acute gastroenteritis and could play a role in infantile eczema. We studied gut permeability in 10 normal adults, 11 control children, 7 children with acute gastroenteritis, and 8 patients with infantile eczema, making use of [51Cr]EDTA as probe molecule. [51Cr]EDTA was given orally (50-100 microCi); 24-h urinary excretion of [51Cr]EDTA was measured and expressed as a percentage of the oral dose. Mean and standard error were 2.35 +/- 0.24, 2.51 +/- 0.21, 9.96 +/- 3.44, and 10.90 +/- 2.05 in normal adults, control children, and gastroenteritis and eczema patients, respectively. Differences between controls and either gastroenteritis (p less than 0.001) or eczema (p less than 0.001) patients are significant. Our results support the hypothesis that increased gut permeability could play a role in food hypersensitivity.

Acute Disease↗

Health-related quality of life and hand eczema--a comparison of two instruments, including factor analysis.

Hand eczema is a disease of long duration, affecting the individual and society. The purpose of this study of 100 patients (51 females and 49 males) at an occupational dermatology clinic was to investigate whether the generic questionnaire Short Form-36 (SF-36), and the dermatology-specific Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) are appropriate for assessing health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with hand eczema, and whether gender differences in HRQL could be detected. HRQL was affected by hand eczema, measured with both SF-36 and DLQI. The SF-36 showed more impaired HRQL for females than for males, in the mental health dimension, whereas no gender-related differences were detected with the DLQI. To compare the instruments we used factor analysis, with a polychoric correlation matrix as input, thus taking the ordinal aspect of the data into account. There was a high correlation between the instruments for physical health, but lower for mental health. In this context our interpretation of the factor analysis is that the SF-36 measures mental health better than the DLQI. The SF-36 therefore appears suitable for use in future studies for measuring HRQL, and gender differences in HRQL, in persons with reported hand eczema.

Adult↗

Mycobacterium vaccae reduces scratching behavior but not the rash in NC mice with eczema: a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial.

In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, we previously showed that intra-dermal administration of a killed Mycobacterium vaccae suspension to school-aged children with atopic dermatitis ameliorates their disease. We wished to test the hypothesis that M. vaccae may also prevent the development of eczema. As it was not possible to do this in children, we studied the NC/Nga eczema mouse model. Thirty NC/Nga mice were randomized into a blinded, placebo-controlled trial where they received either 0.1 or 0.01 mg of M. vaccae (SRP299) or placebo given subcutaneously at 1 and 8 wk of age. Clinical eczema scores, as well as scratching frequency using a digital videotape system were assessed during the 26-wk study. Digital scratch scores correlated with clinical severity (p=0.001). Although there were no significant differences in age of onset or severity of the rash between the three study arms, mice injected with 0.1 mg but not 0.01 mg of SPR299 had significantly lower peak scratch frequencies than controls (Hazard ratio 0.2; 95% confidence interval 0.1-0.7; p=0.01). We conclude that in this NC/Nga mouse model, SRP299 did have a beneficial effect in reducing pruritus, a major clinical symptom of eczema, although it does not prevent the rash from developing.

Animals↗

Quantitative analysis of stratum corneum lipids in xerosis and asteatotic eczema.

Sphingolipids, a major constituent of intercellular lipids, are an important determinant for both water-holding and permeability barrier function in the stratum corneum. To assess the pathogenic role of sphingolipids in the stratum corneum of dry skin disorders such as xerosis and asteatotic eczema in leg skin, ceramides were quantified by thin layer chromatography after n-hexane/ethanol extraction of resin-stripped stratum corneum and evaluated as micrograms/mg stratum corneum. In healthy leg skin (n = 49), there was age-related decline in the total ceramide, whereas xerosis (n = 25) and asteatotic eczema (n = 16) suffering significantly reduced water-holding properties, exhibited no definite decrease, rather slight increase in ceramide quantity with the same composition of each individual ceramide as compared to healthy age-matched controls. These data indicate that the seemingly elevated level of ceramide is an artificial effect due to inflammatory processes which result from susceptibility to dryness. Analysis of sebum-derived lipids present in the stratum corneum revealed that there was a significant decline in free fatty acids in xerosis and asteatotic eczema as compared to age-matched healthy controls, and a similar decline in triglycerides in the above three groups when compared to younger controls. Although the observed decrease in the stratum corneum lipids may well explain the high incidence of winter dry skin in older people, the progression toward asteatotic eczema can not be accompanied solely by a decrease in ceramide quantity, suggesting that the evolution of xerotic skin is associated with other moisturizing factors and/or environmental stimuli.

Adult↗

Treatment of eczema with cyclophosphamide and azathioprine.

Nine patients with eczema were treated with the immunosuppressive drugs cyclophosphamide and azathioprine. In all patients the eczema was severe and incapacitating and had not responded satisfactorily to systemic and topical corticosteroid therapy. The eczema improved in all patients and systemic corticosteroids, which had resulted in undesirable side-effects, could be decreased or stopped. Leukopenia was not necessary for achieving clinical improvement. Several months of treatment were needed to obtain significant improvement in the eczema and long term remissions followed cessation of therapy.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

The epidemiology of childhood eczema: I. A population based study of associations.

Information on whether they thought their child had ever had eczema was obtained from the mothers of 12,555 children in a national cohort of five-year-olds born in 1970. This question was part of a multiple battery of questions concerning the medical, social, environmental and behavioural background of the child. These data were linked to the information that had been collected on the cohort at birth, and a profile of characteristics of the children with reported eczema was produced. A large proportion (46/135) of associations were statistically significant at the 1% level. The major associations were with socio-economic indicators and characteristics of parental health behaviour, with the most advantaged socio-economic groups and those with more positive health behaviour having increased rates of reported eczema. The patterns of associations form an interesting profile of the backgrounds of children reported to have had eczema. Identification of these factors was necessary before more advanced statistical techniques were employed to investigate which of these variables predominate when they are considered simultaneously, and to generate hypotheses as to which factors may be causally associated with the disorder.

Child, Preschool↗

Hay fever, eczema and urticaria in southwest Norway. Lifetime prevalences and association with sex, age, smoking habits, occupational airborne exposures and respiratory symptoms.

Information on hay fever, eczema, urticaria, respiratory symptoms, smoking habits and occupational dust or gas exposure was obtained by a self-administered questionnaire from a random sample of 4992 subjects of the general population aged 15-70 years of the Hordaland county, Norway. The response rate was 90% of the sample. The lifetime prevalences of hay fever, eczema and urticaria were 10%, 25% and 9% of the respondents, respectively. Eczema and urticaria were more often reported by women than by men. The lifetime prevalence of hay fever decreased substantially by age in both sexes. A history of hay fever was inversely related to cigarette smoking. The lifetime prevalences of eczema and urticaria were associated with occupational dust or gas exposure after adjusting for sex, age, smoking habits and area of residence. Adjusted odds ratios of respiratory symptoms in subjects with hay fever were almost 2.0 compared with those without.

Adolescent↗

Temporal association between Der pI exposure, immediate hypersensitivity and clinical severity of eczema.

Uncontrolled studies of avoidance of house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) by atopic subjects have reported clinical improvement in the severity of eczema. The aim of the present study was to examine the temporal relationship between environmental exposure to the major mite allergen (Der pI) and clinical disease severity in children with chronic atopic eczema. Twelve children were identified as being house dust mite-sensitive on the basis of skin prick test and RAST to Der pI. They were examined on two occasions with a median interval of 63 days. Clinical severity of eczema improved in nine children and deteriorated in two children during this period. Der pI concentration in dust from mattresses changed significantly in only three subjects and there was no correlation between changes in clinical severity and changes in environmental Der pI exposure. Change in RAST against Der pI did correlate positively with change in Der pI exposure (rho = 0.56, P less than 0.05) but these changes were not associated significantly with changes in eczema severity or skin test response to Der pI. It is concluded that the observed changes in clinical severity were unlikely to be due to immediate hypersensitivity responses to natural variations in Der pI concentrations in the personal environments of these subjects.

Adolescent↗

Margarine and butter consumption, eczema and allergic sensitization in children. The LISA birth cohort study.

It has been hypothesized that margarine intake is associated with allergic diseases. However, the epidemiological evidence in children is limited. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between dietary intake of margarine and butter with eczema and allergic sensitization in 2-yr-old children. Data of 2582 children at the age of 2 yr with complete information on exposure to diet and allergic outcome were analyzed in a German prospective birth cohort study (LISA). Margarine and butter intake were estimated from a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire about general fat use at home combined with questions on the child's spread intake. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied comparing predominant margarine and predominant butter intake with consumption of both butter and margarine. Predominant margarine intake was positively associated with lifetime prevalence of symptomatic eczema (aOR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.12-2.61) and doctor-diagnosed eczema (aOR: 2.10; 95% CI: 1.36-3.25) and allergic sensitization against inhalant allergens (aOR: 2.10; 95% CI: 1.01-4.41) at the age of 2 yr. No statistically significant associations were found for butter intake. Stratification for parental history of atopic diseases indicated that children at high risk of atopic diseases have higher effect estimates for margarine intake compared to children without parental history of atopic diseases. Stratification for sex also showed higher effect estimates in boys. Children with predominant margarine consumption had an increased risk for eczema and allergic sensitization, while butter intake was no predictor for allergic diseases. However, we could not determine whether margarine is a causal risk factor or whether other lifestyle factors have influenced this association.

Butter↗

PsEma--a hitherto unnamed dermatologic entity with clinical features of both psoriasis and eczema.

INTRODUCTION: Recent advances in molecular biology have helped establish differences between psoriasis and a group of inflammatory skin disorders commonly referred to as eczema. The authors have observed significant overlap between these two conditions such that a distinction between them may not always be made, even with histologic examination of skin biopsy specimens. OBJECTIVE: To determine how frequently psoriasis patients present features of both psoriasis and eczema. METHODS: The authors conducted a prospective analysis of 100 consecutive psoriasis patients in their clinic. RESULTS: The authors found that 20% could be diagnosed as "intermediate," having lesions with characteristics of both psoriasis and eczema, or a personal history of both. The authors suggest naming this category of inflammatory dermatosis "PsEma"--an overlap condition in which the clinical, histologic, molecular, biologic, and therapeutic responses show characteristics of both psoriasis and eczema.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

External and internal exposure to the antigen in the hand eczema of nickel allergy.

A provocation study was performed in twelve female patients with contact allergy to nickel and hand eczema of the pompholyx type. Intense handling of nickle-contaminated metal objects did not induce any visible eczematous activity. Oral administration of nickle in a double-blind test provoked an aggravation of the hand eczema in nine of the twelve patients, and in seven of the patients this was accompanied by secondary eruptions including outbreaks of earlier, healed eczema. The nickle dose given is probably in the upper limit of the presently known daily intake of the metal, but should be considered to be within the physiologic range. It is concluded that ingestion of small amounts of nickel may be of greater importance in maintaining the hand eczema than external contacts with the metal.

Administration, Oral↗