Effect of nebulized lidocaine on severe glucocorticoid-dependent asthma.

Objective: To determine whether nebulized lidocaine is a useful therapy in patients with severe glucocorticoid-dependent asthma.

Design: We prospectively conducted an open study of the effects of administration of nebulized lidocaine four times daily in 20 patients with asthma who had side effects of exogenous hypercortisolism.

Material And Methods: The 18 women and 2 men, who were 19 to 71 years of age, all had severe asthma that necessitated both topical and systemic administration of glucocorticoids to control symptoms of airflow obstruction.

Anaphylaxis after ingestion of millet seeds.

We report the case of a patient with anaphylaxis after ingestion of millet seeds, a previously unreported allergen. Skin testing with freshly prepared millet seed extract produced positive intradermal responses at a concentration of 100 pg/ml. The reaction was mediated by IgE antibodies to millet, as demonstrated by elevated specific IgE antibody levels by radioallergosorbent test (RAST) and by significant in vitro histamine release from leukocytes incubated with millet seed extract.