Injectable collagen implants were approved for medical use by the Food and Drug Administration in July 1981, after seven years of clinical investigation. Early results indicated that the collagen implant was a major advance in the treatment of many soft-tissue deformities, especially postacne scars and wrinkle lines in older patients.1 Physicians who treat patients with collagen implants are first obliged to question them carefully regarding a personal or family history of connective-tissue diseases. If there are no contraindications by history, the patient then undergoes a collagen implant skin test to screen for preexisting allergy to the material. The medical history and skin test, however, are not always sufficient to identify patients who will be hypersensitive to collagen implants.
Two patients who had positive responses to collagen implant skin tests and two additional patients who became sensitized to collagen implants during the course of treatment are described herein. The skin