Manual of Contact Dermatitis

This manual was written by Fregert on behalf of the International Contact Dermatitis Research Group to fulfill a specific need—a succinct review of the science and art of diagnostic patch testing. Dr. Fregert succeeded admirably: this is a "howto-do-it" text that summarizes an extensive personal experience into readily followed specific instruction and advice. The text presents useful working definitions of the sometimes confusing contact dermatitis terminology. The commonest contact allergens are tested with a summary of relevant clinical information for each (including source and anatomic localization). Reliable lists of patch test concentrations, selected structural formulas, and photo patch testing methods are given. The manual does not replace standard reference texts, such as A. Fisher'sContact Dermatitis, and N. Hjorth and S. Fregert's chapter on contact dermatitis in A. Rook'sTextbook of Dermatology. Instead, it adds a practical, easily read instruction guide for study before delving into the reference works.