METAL IMPLANT ALLERGY: TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES

Metal implant allergy may contribute to implant complications in a variety of medical disciplines. Objective: To give - from an allergological-immunological point of view - an overview on clinical and research trends including diagnostics and patient characteristics. Results of a recent European consensus publication on diagnostics in suspected metal implant allergy will be presented. Examples of published investigations including follow up studies will be cited. Approaches to structured international data collection and information exchange on patient and materials characteristics will be discussed. Metal implant allergy is rare and might be based on several pathomechanisms. As the number of patients with metal implants is continuously growing, intolerance/allergy reactions may however become more frequent. Standardized work up/testing protocols, data collection and identification of patient characteristics are needed.