“The Truth About Pediatric Contact Dermatitis” by Sharon Jacob, MD (Loma Linda University, California)
In this session, Dr. Jacob discussed how she approaches pediatric patients with suspected contact dermatitis and elaborated on the common allergens unique to this patient population. Furthermore, she explained the substantial role of nickel in pediatric contact dermatitis, citing a study performed in Denmark and the United States, which tested 212 toys for nickel using the dimethylglyoxime test and found that 34.4% of toys did in fact release nickel.3 Additional studies have shown that nickel released from children’s toys is deposited on the skin, even with short contact times such as 30 minutes on one or more occasions within 2 weeks.3,4 She is currently evaluating the presence of nickel in locales frequented by children such as schools, libraries, and supermarkets. Interestingly, she anecdotally found that a pediatric eczematous eruption in a spiralized distribution of the legs can be attributed to the presence of nickel in school chairs, and the morphology is secondary to children wrapping their legs around the chairs. In conclusion, she reiterated that nickel continues to be the top allergen among pediatric patients, and states that additional allergens for patch testing in this population are unique to their adult counterparts.
Take-Home Point
Nickel is an ubiquitous allergen for pediatric contact dermatitis; additionally, the list of allergens for patch testing should be tailored to this patient population.
“When to Image, When to Sedate” by Annette Wagner, MD (Northwestern Medicine, Chicago, Illinois)
This lecture was a 3-part discussion on the safety of general anesthesia in children, when to image children, and when sedation may be worth the risk. Dr. Wagner shared her pearls for when children younger than 3 years may benefit from dermatologic procedures that involve general anesthesia. Large congenital lesions of the scalp or face that require tissue expansion or multiple stages may be best performed at a younger age due to the flexibility of the infant scalp, providing the best outcome. Additional considerations include a questionable malignant diagnosis in which a punch biopsy is not enough, rapidly growing facial lesions, Spitz nevi of the face, congenital lesions with no available therapy, and nonhealing refractory lesions causing severe pain. The general rule proposed was intervention for single procedures lasting less than 1 hour that otherwise would result in a worse outcome if postponed. Finally, she concluded to always advocate for your patient, to wait if the outcome will be the same regardless of timing, and to be frank about not knowing the risks of general anesthesia in this population. The resource, SmartTots (http://smarttots.org) provides current consensus statements and ongoing research on the use and safety of general anesthesia in children.
Take-Home Point
General sedation may be considered for short pediatric procedures that will result in a worse outcome if postponed.
“Highlights From the Pediatric Literature” by Katherine Marks, DO (Geisinger, Danville and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
Dr. Marks discussed numerous emerging pediatric dermatology articles. One article looked at 40 infants with proliferating infantile hemangiomas (IHs) who had timolol gel 0.5% applied twice daily.5 The primary outcomes were the urinary excretion and serum levels of timolol as well as the clinical response to therapy measured by a visual analog scale at monthly visits. A urinalysis collected 3 to 4 hours after timolol application was found to be positive in 83% (20/24) of the tested patients; the first 3 positive infants were then sent to have their serum timolol levels drawn and also were found to be positive, though substantially small levels (median, 0.16 ng/mL). The 3 patients tested had small IHs on the face with no ulceration. None of these patients experienced adverse effects and all of the IHs significantly (P<.001) improved with therapy. The authors stated that even though the absorption was minimal, it is wise to be cognizant about the use of timolol in certain patient demographics such as preterm or young infants with large ulcerating IHs.5
Take-Home Point
Systemic absorption with topical timolol occurs, albeit substantially small; be judicious about giving this medication in select patient populations with ulcerated hemangiomas.
Acknowledgment
The author thanks the presenters for their review and contributions to this article.
