HYPERSENSITIVITY TO MERCUROCHROME SHOWN BY THE PATCH TEST

Abstract

Hypersensitivity of the skin to various mercurial compounds has often been observed clinically and verified by contact tests.¹ We have found no report of positive patch tests with mercurochrome-220 soluble, although this antiseptic is used extensively in America. A few cases of dermatitis attributed to mercurochrome have been reported in the literature,² but in these the diagnosis was made by clinical observation only. We wish to report five cases of sensitivity which were proved by the patch test. In two of them, mercurochrome was the cause of dermatitis venenata, and in one it caused an exacerbation of a preexisting dermatitis. The other two cases were discovered in the course of tests with various mercurial compounds. REPORT OF CASES Case 1.—W. H.,³ a man, aged 32, had a condition diagnosed mercurochrome dermatitis. He was treated surgically for multiple furunculosis of both arms, and mercurochrome was then applied