Contact allergy to gold in patients with gold-plated intracoronary stents.

An increasingly common and effective method for the treatment of atherosclerotic disease in the coronary arteries is percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and stenting. The stents are made of different metals. An increased rate of restenosis when using gold-plated stents has been shown. Contact allergy to gold is common in many countries. Recently, a study has shown an increased rate of contact allergy to nickel among patients with restenosis and a nickel-containing stent. The aims of our study were to investigate whether there was an increased rate of contact allergy to gold among patients with gold-plated stents and if this increased the risk of restenosis. 22 patients who had received a gold-plated stent were patch tested. An age- and sex-matched population of 88 patients, previously patch tested because of a suspected contact dermatitis, served as controls. In the stent group, 10/22 (45.5%) had a contact allergy to gold, in the control group 18/88 (20.5%); the difference is statistically significant (P = 0.04). There was no significant difference regarding frequency of restenosis. Our study indicates that there is a risk of sensitizing the patient when implanting a gold-plated stent. Further studies are needed to confirm these results and to evaluate whether there is an increased risk of restenosis

Comparison of elicitation potential of chloroatranol and atranol - 2 allergens in oak moss absolute

Chloroatranol and atranol are degradation products of chloroatranorin and atranorin, respectively, and have recently been identified as important contact allergens in the natural fragrance extract, oak moss absolute. Oak moss absolute is widely used in perfumery and is the cause of many cases of fragrance allergic contact dermatitis. Chloroatranol elicits reactions at very low levels of exposure. In oak moss absolute, chloroatranol and atranol are present together and both may contribute to the allergenicity and eliciting capacity of the natural extract. In this study, 10 eczema patients with known sensitization to chloroatranol and oak moss absolute were tested simultaneously to a serial dilution of chloroatranol and atranol in ethanol, in equimolar concentrations (0.0034-1072 mu M). Dose-response curves were estimated and analysed by logistic regression. The estimated difference in elicitation potency of chloroatranol relative to atranol based on testing with equimolar concentrations was 217% (95% confidence interval 116-409%). Both substances elicited reactions at very low levels of exposure. It is concluded that the differences in elicitation capacity between the 2 substances are counterbalanced by exposure being greater to atranol than to chloroatranol and that both substances contribute to the clinical problems seen in oak moss absolute-sensitized individuals