[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s12948-015-0011-2.].

BACKGROUND There is an increasing need to develop test instruments that make oral food challenges superfluous. OBJECTIVE We sought to study the utility of atopy patch tests (APTs) in the diagnostic workup of food allergy. METHODS We investigated 437 children (median age, 13 months; 90% with atopic dermatitis) referred for evaluation of suspected food allergy. Specific serum IgE (sIgE) measu...

Atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome (AEDS) is one of the most common chronic allergic diseases in children. Among the allergens found to be relevant in AEDS, aeroallergens and food allergens are the most important. The exposure of these patients to their relevant protein allergens can trigger an exacerbation or maintain the disease. AEDS is frequently associated with food allergy, which complicat...

Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is thought to be a non-IgE mediated food allergy syndrome. Affected infants typically demonstrate gastrointestinal symptoms after hours after ingestion of the offending food. Traditional allergy testing is not useful for this disorder because tests for food specific IgE are routinely negative. A diagnostic oral food challenge (OFC) is the only...

The diagnosis of allergy is mainly based on the combination of clinical history data and results of skin prick tests (SPT) or in vitro IgE tests, including specific IgE measurement, and, as third level testing, challenges with the suspected allergens. The atopy patch test (APT) that assesses the type 4, delayed hypersensitivity, is insufficiently used. We review the data obtained in recent stud...

PURPOSE Food allergy has been demonstrated to play an important role in the pathogenesis of atopic eczema dermatitis syndrome (AEDS), affecting often atopic infants and young children. The most commonly offending foods are cow's milk, hen's egg, wheat and soy; implicating immediate (IgE-mediated) and late-phase (T-cells) immunological reactions in the pathogenesis of skin lesions. The diagnosti...

As the incidence of allergic diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD), increases, there is continuing interest about the underlying cause of these conditions. There is little question that the causes of AD are multifactorial and include allergy, genetics, infection, and climactic and emotional influences. The degree to which each of these components has a role in the causation of AD is contro...

Prof. Carlo Crosti, Clinica Dermatologica, Ospedale San Paolo, Via A Di Rudini, 8, I-20142 Milano (Italy) Despite its frequency, pompholyx or dyshidrotic eczema presents many unresolved problems of aetiology, pathogenesis and therapy. As its invariable histopatholog-ical picture of spongiotic dermatitis indicates, pompholyx is a non-specific reaction somehow related to the particular anatomy of...

Bedding dust is a mixture of many components, of which the house dust mite (HDM) allergen, Der p 1, is the most allergenic. There has been little work to investigate the effect of other bedding dust components on HDM sensitisation. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of endotoxin in bedding dust on the allergic response in HDM-sensitised individuals. Twenty-nine house dust mi...

Contact dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease due to contact with different substances and caused by two mechanisms: Allergy and irritation. Contact dermatitis is a common skin disease and the most common occupational dermatosis. Differentiating between allergic and irritant contact dermatitis is essential in the identification of etiologic factor(s) and hence, its control and prognosis. T...