Investigation of drugs responsible for perioperative anaphylactic reactions using cellular allergen stimulation test

Anaphylactic reactions during anesthesia and operation are common and life threatening. Follow-up investigation is necessary for avoiding potential re-exposure of the patients to the offending drugs. The purpose of this study was to assess cellular allergen stimulation test (CAST) as a diagnostic instrument in immunoglobulin E (IgE)- and non-IgE-mediated anaphylactic reactions.

This study included 25 patients who developed perioperative anaphylactic reactions and 10 subjects that tolerated anesthetics and other drugs during perioperative period from September 2009 to October 2013 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. We performed skin tests and flow cytometric analysis of basophil activation-based CAST in all subjects.

Of the 25 patients, 17 had IgE-mediated anaphylactic reactions (causative agent identified by skin tests) and 8 had non-IgE-mediated anaphylactic reactions (negative skin tests). CAST showed a sensitivity of 42.9%, specificity of 90%, and negative predictive value of 80.6% for neuromuscular blocking agents.

CAST may be useful for the diagnosis of anaphylactic reactions during perioperative period. Our findings call for further investigation to increase the sensitivity of the test.