Analgesic-induced asthma caused by 2.0% ketoprofen adhesive agents, but not by 0.3% agents

A 74-year-old woman was admitted with an asthma attack. She had a 40-year history of sinusitis, nasal polyp and analgesic-induced asthma; however, asthma had never occurred when she used a 0.3% ketoprofen adhesive patch (Mohrus) for stiff shoulder or lumbago. In the hospital, a life-threatening asthma attack suddenly occurred two and a half hours after application of a 2.0% ketoprofen adhesive tape (Mohrus tape) to her shoulder. She was treated with bronchodilator and glucocorticoid and extubated after 20 hours. A drug lymphocyte stimulating test (DLST) was strongly positive for ketoprofen. We suspected that drug-induced hypersensitivity coexisted in the present case, but it was not clear whether or not the hypersensitivity was related to the pathogenesis of analgesic-induced asthma.