Allergic contact dermatitis from pantolactone and dexpanthenol in wound healing creams

Allergic contact dermatitis from a skin‐calming cream containing hydroxyphenyl propamidobenzoic acid

“…Dexpanthenol, 7 and its impurity pantolactone, are cosmetic allergens, the latter potentially even being the actual sensitizer in panthenol‐containing products. 8 Initially we had suspected these particular haptens to be at the origin of the reported reaction after application of Bepanthen Sensiderm; however, patch testing with both dexpanthenol and pantolactone remained negative, yet pointed towards a new sensitizing culprit, that is, HPPBA. False negative reactions to butylene glycol or pentylene glycol are not probable as at least patch testing with pentylene glycol resulted in a positive reaction (+++) in another patient patch‐tested the same week as our patient ( data not shown ).…”