Molekulare Diagnostik des Handekzems

Background: Using current diagnostic tools for hand eczema, namely clinical picture and histology, differential diagnoses such as psoriasis palmaris usually cannot be ruled out. Objectives: Discussion of current diagnostic possibilities for hand eczema; presentation and critical evaluation of proposed biomarkers for molecular diagnostics and outlook how diagnostics in dermatology will change in the near future. Materials and methods: In this article, we discuss basic research and provide a review of the literature. Results: Molecular diagnostics has the potential to substantially improve diagnosis of hand eczema; prerequisites are prospective validation of proposed markers and availability of valid and cost-effective diagnostics. Conclusions: In the near future, the diagnosis of hand eczema will be complemented by software algorithms and artificial intelligence on the one hand and simple, precise, and economic molecular diagnostic devices on the other.