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Safety and reliability of the drug tolerance test: our experience in 739 patients
Sebastiano Gangemi1, Claudio Guarneri, Pietro Romeo
1School and Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Human Pathology, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Background:
Drug tolerance tests (DTTs) are commonly used to find a safe therapeutic alternative for patients with previous type B adverse drug reactions (ADRs), but few studies on safety and reliability are available.
Methods:
We retrospectively studied 739 subjects with previous ADRs who underwent DTTs; 12 months after the test, use of the tested drug(s) and occurrence of ADRs were investigated in 260 of them.
Results:
ADRs to antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the main reasons for which DTTs were requested. 925 DTTs were performed in the 739 patients, with 97 ADRs. Twelve months after the test, 125/260 patients interviewed had used the tested drug(s): 118 of them experienced no ADR, 4 experienced 'true' ADRs, and 3 reported predictable/unclear reactions.
Conclusion:
Our data show that DTTs are safe and reliable at 1 year, but patients and general practitioners do not trust them. It is strongly advisable to have better information on methods, benefits, risks and reliability of DTTs.
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