Anaphylactoid reaction to dextran---a report of 133 cases

From 1968 to 1975, the Swedish Adverse Drug Reaction Committee received 113 reports on anaphylactoid reaction to dextran 70, and 20 reports on the same reaction to dextran 40. For 1975, this would equal a reported incidence of anaphylactoid reaction to dextran 70 of 1:2,500. The median age of patients reacting to dextran 70 was 63 years. Median age increased with increasing severity of the anaphylactoid reaction: from 48 years in patients who died. Symptoms were noticed within 10 min of the start of the infusion, or before 100 ml had been infused in 96 patients (85%) with an anaphylactoid reaction to dextran 70. There was a tendency for severe reactions to be observed earlier than milder ones. Symptoms also tended to be observed earlier in conscious than in unconscious patients. Reactions reported to have occurred in unconscious patients tended to be more severe than those in conscious patients. Patients with anaphylactoid reaction to dextran 40 did not differ from those with reactions to dextran 70 with regard to age, severity of the reaction or time before onset of symptoms. There was one death in this group.