Gold Dermatitis Limited to Depigmented Skin

The unusual phenomenon of gold dermatitis limited to depigmented skin has recently been observed in two cases. In both cases the dermatitis followed injections of gold sodium thiosulphate administered in carrying out the treatment for vitiligo recommended by Lindsay.1We believe that this cutaneous accident is of interest because it represents a hitherto undescribed reaction to gold compounds, because the limitation of any dermatosis to depigmented skin is an unusual phenomenon and because a consideration of the possible mechanism involved may assist in an understanding of two common dermatoses, vitiligo and aurodermatitis. While the classic studies of Bloch.2which have been elaborated in this country by Becker3and by Peck.4have furnished much more exact means of studying pigment formation in the skin and have shown that the fundamental change in vitiligo is an absence of dopa-oxydase, the underlying etiologic agent remains unknown. Bloch