Chronic Hand Eczema Guidelines From an Expert Panel of the International Eczema Council

Jonathan I Silverberg, Emma Guttman-Yassky, Tove Agner, Robert Bissonnette, David E Cohen, Eric Simpson, Andreas Wollenberg, Jacob P Thyssen

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Assessment of chronic hand eczema (CHE) is complex and warrants standardization.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to guide clinicians on the assessment of CHE.

METHODS: An electronic questionnaire regarding the diagnosis and assessment of CHE was completed by councilors (n=45) of the International Eczema Council, an international group of clinicians and researchers with expertise in CHE. The survey consisted of 52 statements for consensus.

RESULTS: Overall, nine statements (17.3%) had strong, twenty-three (44.2%) moderate, 12 (23.1%) low, and 8 (15.4%) very low levels of agreement. Five statements had considerable disagreement, including the value of conducting a skin biopsy (62.2% disagreement), investigating for possible type 1 reactions (60.0%), conducting a fungal culture (44.4%), finding no history of relevant allergens and/or irritants (31.1%) in most or all cases, and performing patch testing irrespective of lesion location and morphology (28.9%). Agreement was generally highest among respondents from Europe (28.6-77.8% agreement), followed by Asia (7.1%-35.7% agreement), North America (0%-35.5% agreement), and other (0%-13.3% agreement).

CONCLUSIONS: There were substantial differences of agreement, suggesting there are many knowledge and/or practice gaps with respect to CHE. Future research is needed to inform evidence-based and/or consensus guidelines for CHE.

Original languageEnglish
JournalDermatitis
Volume32
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)319-326
Number of pages8
ISSN1710-3568
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

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