Molecular diagnostics of hand eczema

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.