1/1428. Unusual evidence of myocardial involvement during a hypersensitivity reaction to oral penicillin. A hypersensitivity reaction to orally administered phenoxymethyl penicillin is reported. The manifestations of the reaction included fever, arthralgia, urticaria and an irregular pulse. Serial ECG showed second-degree atrioventricular block with junctional escape beats, an atypical Wenckebach pattern and, finally, first-degree atrioventricular block with gradually decreasing PR intervals. A normal tracing was recorded on the sixth day despite the persistence of the rash and joint pains. ( info) |
2/1428. skin eruption with gabapentin in a patient with repeated AED-induced Stevens-Johnson's syndrome. skin eruptions have been reported with the use of all antiepileptic drugs and there is a significant risk of cross-reactivity between these agents in causing serious eruptions such as Stevens-Johnson's syndrome. Gabepentin is usually considered a safe agent for patients with a previous history of drug allergies and there have been no cases of skin eruption reported to the gabapentin post marketing surveillance. We report a patient who had severe Stevens-Johnson's syndrome induced by phenytoin and later by carbamazepine. Subsequent use of gabapentin also resulted in a skin eruption which was limited to the lower extremities but without systemic or mucosal involvement. This case suggests that patients with a strong history of drug-induced idiosyncratic reactions may experience such reactions to gabapentin as well. ( info) |
3/1428. hypersensitivity reactions to intraperitoneal administration of carboplatin in ovarian cancer: the first report of a case. hypersensitivity reactions to intravenous administration of carboplatin (CP) have been previously reported. However, hypersensitivity reaction to intraperitoneal administration of CP has not yet been reported. A 66-year-old woman diagnosed with ovarian carcinoma underwent six courses of intraperitoneal administration of carboplatin. During the seventh course of chemotherapy, delivered intraperitoneally, she developed hypersensitivity reactions with hypotension to carboplatin. etoposide was used for the further chemotherapy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of hypersensitivity reactions to intraperitoneal administration of carboplatin. ( info) |
4/1428. Lymphocyte transformation test for the evaluation of adverse effects of antituberculous drugs. The usefulness of the lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) for the analysis of adverse reactions to antituberculous drugs was evaluated. - The LTT was performed with isoniazid and rifampicin in 15 tuberculosis and 2 MOTT (Mycobacteria other than tuberculosis)-infection patients who suffered drug reactions, in 23 patients without any adverse reactions, in 7 controls previously exposed to antituberculous drugs, and in 14 controls who had never been exposed. 4/15 of the hepatotoxic reactions only showed a positive LTT with rifampicin, 3/15 only with isoniazid, and in 8/15 the LTT was negative. In an anaphylactoid shock reaction the LTT was extremely exaggerated for both rifampicin and isoniazid. In patients without any side effects only one slightly increased LTT due to isoniazid was observed. Two healthy controls with previous contact to these drugs showed a positive LTT for isoniazid, one of those with both rifampicin and isoniazid. The LTT was negative in all control persons without any former contact to antituberculous medications. In most cases hepatotoxicity seems to be a pure toxic reaction without the participation of cellular immune mechanisms. LTT can be useful for identifying the drug responsible for immunological side effects. ( info) |
5/1428. Sight-threatening acute orbital swelling from peribulbar local anesthesia. Severe allergic reactions to peribulbar local anesthesia are extremely rare. A 70-year-old woman presented with acute orbital swelling and optic nerve dysfunction after a peribulbar local anesthetic injection. The patient was treated with acute orbital decompression as well as intravenous antibiotics and methylprednisolone; she made a good recovery. An allergy, probably to lignocaine, was the most likely cause. Urgent recognition and treatment of this condition may prevent potentially serious visual consequences. ( info) |
| erythromycin is a frequently used antibiotic in patients with atypical respiratory infection and/or an allergy to penicillin. We report the case of a young woman who developed severe cholestasis and jaundice following treatment with erythromycin stearate. Two years later her general practitioner prescribed erythromycin succinate for pharyngitis. She experienced a severe second episode of jaundice and malaise. Different esters of erythromycin have been introduced to reduce side effects such as allergic reactions to erythromycin. The findings in our patient underline the fact that hypersensitivity is caused by the erythromycin molecule, independent from the type of esterification. Because of these side effects newer makrolides should be given preference over erythromycin. ( info) |
7/1428. Hyperbaric oxygen in acute ischaemia due to allergic vasculitis. A case of a child with allergic vasculitis to penicillin is presented. The patient received successful treatment with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. The pathophysiological mechanism of acute peripheral anoxia and the infleunce of HBO treatment on it is described. ( info) |
8/1428. Drug-induced lung disease. Since there are no diagnostic studies to confirm the presence of a drug-induced lung reaction the physician will make a correct diagnosis only if he is aware of the drugs which have been identified to cause pulmonary reactions and their specific manifestations. Failure to recognize a drug-induced lung disease can lead to significant morbidity and in some cases mortality. The major drug-induced lung diseases are reviewed, the drugs being presented in the context of their clinical use and the reactions on the basis of common pathogenetic mechanisms. ( info) |
9/1428. ceftizoxime-induced hemolysis due to immune complexes: case report and determination of the epitope responsible for immune complex-mediated hemolysis. BACKGROUND: Several occurrences of immune complex-mediated, cephalosporin-induced intravascular hemolysis have been reported. This report describes the first case of hemolytic anemia caused by an immune-complex mechanism associated with ceftizoxime and delineates the epitope responsible for hemolysis. CASE REPORT: The patient's serum was tested for antibody that reacted with five penicillins and 30 cephems (all types of cephalosporins) by using protocols to detect drug-adsorption and immune-complex mechanisms. The patient's antibody that formed immune complexes with ceftizoxime reacted with 10 of 30 cephems. These 10 drugs were classified as oxime-type cephalosporins, which have a common structural formula consisting of [(Z)-2-(2-amino-4-thiazolyl)-2-methoxyiminoacetoamido] at the C7 position on 7-aminocephalosporinic acid with or without substitution at the C3 position. CONCLUSION: The patient's antibody recognized a common structure in 10 oxime-type cephalosporins, and immune complexes formed by the antibody specifically or nonspecifically bound to red cell membranes. Therefore, when intermittent antibiotic therapy is required, as in this case, care should be taken in antibiotic selection to avoid drug-induced hemolytic anemia. In addition, when this type of hemolysis is observed, tests for antibody that reacts by adsorption and immune-complex mechanisms should be performed against penicillins and cephems to select antibiotics not showing a cross-reaction. ( info) |
10/1428. Allergic reactions to lignocaine. True allergic reactions to local analgesics are extremely rare. This case report illustrates the procedures adopted to manage a patient with a history of suspected allergy. A young woman was found to have a true type I hypersensitivity to lignocaine. Another routinely used local analgesic agent, prilocaine, was tested by the same methods and found to give no allergic response. Dental treatment was successfully completed using the latter and the patient advised to wear a medical alert bracelet. ( info) |