A Retrospective Chart Review: The Relationship Between Stroke and Contact Dermatitis in the Rio Grande Valley

Background: Contact dermatitis (CD) is a common inflammatory skin condition that occurs when the skin comes into contact with irritants or allergens. While the cause of CD is often identifiable, some cases are chronic and affect quality of life [2]. Recent studies suggest inflammation, like CD, may increase stroke incidence and contribute to its pathogenesis [6]. A retrospective cohort study found a 1.1-fold higher incidence of stroke in the CD cohort, indicating a marginal increase in stroke risk [7]. No studies have specifically examined the association between CD and stroke in the Rio Grande Valley. This study aims to explore unique risk factors contributing to increased stroke risk in individuals with CD in this region of Texas. Materials & Methods Conducted a retrospective chart review of UT Health RGV medical records for dermatitis & stroke patients from January 2018. Dermatitis ICD-10 codes included: L20, L21, L23, L24, L25, L30 (atopic, seborrheic, allergic contact, irritant contact, unspecified contact, other & unspecified dermatitis). Excluded duplicated charts & non-contact dermatitis diagnoses. Found 295 unique patients with contact dermatitis diagnoses. Stroke ICD-10 codes included: I60, I61, I62, I63, G45. Excluded duplicated charts. Identified 765 unique patients with stroke diagnoses. Found 3 unique patients with both stroke and dermatitis diagnoses. Planned statistical analysis on age, sex, insurance type, smoking habits, and family history. Results: A total of 1061 electronic medical charts from UTHealth RGV were reviewed. Most of the charts fell under the 'stroke only' category (n = 763, 71.9%), while a smaller proportion were classified under 'CD only' (n = 295, 27.8%). Only 3 charts (0.3%) documented both stroke and CD. An odds ratio analysis with a 95% confidence interval, comparing the odds of having a stroke in patients with and without CD, yielded an OR of 0.68 (CI: 0.22 to 2.12). These preliminary findings suggest there is no statistically significant association between stroke and CD in this population from the Rio Grande Valley. Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest patients with stroke might not have an increased risk of contact dermatitis. A limitation was that our study evaluated UTHealth RGV electronic medical records and may be prone to sampling bias. Future work will seek to identify other datasets thatcan be merged with our findings. Additionally looking into risk factors such as age, sex, and smoking habits for stroke and contact dermatitis may reveal connections not shown here.