Fibroin allergy. IgE mediated hypersensitivity to silk suture materials

Delayed-type hypersensitivity with granulomatous lesions to silk sutures is rather rare. Yet, braided silk sutures often act as a non-immunologic foreign-body and cause a granulomatous inflammatory reaction years after surgery. We report here a case of recurrent granulomas with remarkable infiltration of eosinophils that may have resulted from an IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction to silk fibroin, a component of the braided silk suture. Under normal circumstances exposure to fibroin is rather rare. Therefore, the present patient may have developed this reaction to the silk sutures used in a previous surgery.