Citation

Greenberger PA. Immunol. Allergy Clin. North Am. 2015; 35(2): 375-386.

Affiliation

Division of Allergy-Immunology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 211 East Ontario Street, #1000, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. Electronic address: p-greenberger@northwestern.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.iac.2015.01.001

PMID

25841558

Abstract

Anaphylaxis implies a risk of death even in patients whose prior episodes have been considered mild and managed easily. Anaphylaxis occurs in all age groups, from infants to the elderly, but most deaths occur in adults. Factors or circumstances associated with near-fatal or fatal anaphylaxis are reviewed from the following 10 perspectives: accidents and mishaps, adulterated products, age, allergens, atopy, comorbidities, Munchausen syndrome or contrived anaphylaxis, patient factors, route of administration, and treatment-related issues. There are no absolute contraindications to self-injectable epinephrine, and epinephrine can be administered for anaphylaxis to elderly patients or to those patients receiving beta-adrenergic blockers.

Language: en