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Uterine contractions: an unusual side effect of venom immunotherapy

F Karakurt1, A Kargili, B Bozkurt

  • 1Fatih University Medical School Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Ankara, Turkey.

Journal of Investigational Allergology & Clinical Immunology
|October 16, 2010
PubMed

Venom immunotherapy (VIT) is an efficient treatment modality for preventing further sting-induced anaphylactic reactions in patients with Hymenoptera venom allergy. The main side effects of VIT include local and systemic allergic reactions with a variable risk of up to 46%. We report the case of a woman who experienced rapid-onset hypocalcemia and regular uterine contractions on 3 occasions within 30 minutes of receiving Apis mellifera VIT. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of uterine contractions as a side effect of VIT. The importance of this event is clear, as VIT has now been approved for pregnant women. We provide recommendations to physicians using this modality.

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