[Determination of alkali resistance by skin patch testing].

298 patients suffering from eczema were tested for alkali-resistance by means of the method according to Burckhardt-Locher (ARBL) as well as patch-testing. If ARBL revealed decreased alkali-resistance, there was a high correlation with the outcome of the patch-test of alkalis. If ARBL showed normal values, however, additional patch-testing detected reduced alkali-resistance in 42.9% of the cases. In order to make a well-founded diagnosis of alkali-resistance, we suggest to combine both methods and/or to include a control of ARBL after 24 hours as proposed by Burckhardt.