Allergic contact dermatitis from acrylates in artificial nails.

Artificial nails are an increasingly popular cosmetic enhancement to the natural nail. Several forms are available, including sculptured nails, photobonded nails, and preformed nails. Reactions to artificial nails have included paronychia, onychodystrophies, and dermatitis at contact areas and at sites distant to the contactant. We present a patient who developed erythema and painful pruritic vesicles of the paronychial tissue several hours after the application of sculptured nails. A strong reaction of erythema and edema occurred at the site of methyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate testing. Removal of the artificial nails resulted in resolution of the reaction.