Allergic Contact Dermatitis to Boldo

Abstract

We present a unique case of fingertip allergic contact dermatitis from sprinkling fish food containing the inciting allergen, propyl gallate. A 58-year-old woman presented with a 1-year history of dermatitis localized to the fingertips of the first 3 fingers of both hands. The distal aspects of the patient's bilateral first (thumb), second,and third digits demonstrated ill-defined eczematous plaques with superficial fissures and thin scales (Fig. 1). The woman had previ- ously used petrolatum on her hands, which provided moderate symptomatic relief, and clobetasol 0.05% ointment, which provided no significant improvement. Her dermatitis had responded well to narrowband UV-B phototherapy for 12 weeks but flared up again 1 week after discontinuing phototherapy.