CLINICAL CASES   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2000 December;135(6):687-90

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

New trends allergic contact dermatitis. Mehndi

Tosti A., Pazzaglia M., Bertazzoni M., Vassilopoulou A.

Università degli Studi di Bologna Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica Specialistica e Sperimentale Sezione di Clinica Dermatologica (Responsabile: Prof. C. Varotti) * Ospedale di Vicenza Divisione di Dermatologia

Three cases of contact dermatitis from mehndi tattoos are reported. These were caused by paraphenylenediamine (PPD) which was added to the henna dye to obtain a dark colour for the “temporary tattoo”. In all the patients the onset of the dermatitis a few weeks after the tattoo indicates that active sensitization to PPD occurred as a consequence of the tattoo.
The number of shops and beauty saloons that make temporary tattoos is growing in Italy and in the E. U. and this may possibly result in an increase of PPD sensitization in the general population.