[Irreversible depigmentation of the skin following acute contact eczema caused by adhesive plaster].

Cutaneous depigmentation due to adhesive plaster was observed in four patients. It occurred after an eczematous reaction, was irreversible and strictly limited to the contact area. There is evidence that the depigmentation was induced, at least in two patients, by the polyvinyl/rubber-plastic sheet of the adhesive plaster. Patch tests and animal experiments did not permit to identify the depigmenting component or contaminant of the plastic sheet. Light- and electron microscopy showed a complete disappearance of the epidermal melanocytes in the depigmented skin. During the first year after damage, they were mostly replaced by indeterminate cells. Later on the predominant basal non-keratinocytes of the epidermis were Langerhans cells.