The European Standard Series and its additions: are they of any use in 2013?

This study has two purposes: — to know whether the European standard series is still the key reference when it comes to contact dermatitis, i.e., are its components still the most frequently involved allergens in contact dermatitis nowadays? — to assess the results of the European standard series among French and Belgian dermatologists/allergists as, so far, most of them have failed to provide statistical data within the European community of allergists/dermatologists. 18 participants from 2 dermatology and allergy centres in Belgium and 11 centres in France collected their results from 3,073 patients tested in 2011. They assessed the relevance of some tests as well as that of the standard series and additional series to establish an etiological diagnosis of contact dermatitis. These results, together with the history of the European standard series, have shownthat some allergens are obsolete and that others should be included in a new standard series for which we are making a few suggestions.