Chymopapain allergy: case reports and identification of patients at risk for chymopapain anaphylaxis

Chymopapain has been approved for intradiscal injection in the United States and is expected to be used in approximately 100,000 patients per year. The need to identify the population at risk for anaphylaxis is obvious. Both in vivo and in vitro methods are available for measurement of IgE against chymopapain. This is a report of two cases of chymopapain allergy. One case discusses a 25-year-old woman who had rhinitis, asthma, and urticaria associated with occupational health hazards who was rejected for chemonucleolysis. The other case describes a 59-year-old man who had a predictably severe anaphylactic reaction to chymopapain and responded to treatment with epinephrine. Both patients had IgE antibody against chymopapain.