Anaphylaxis in a tertiary adult allergy clinic: a retrospective review of 516 patients.

Background: Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening acute allergic reaction that can occur at any age.

Objective: To determine the frequency, triggering factors, and clinical features of anaphylaxis among adult patients who were referred to a tertiary health care facility.

Methods: A retrospective medical chart review was performed including all patients referred to the outpatient clinic of the adult allergy department in our university hospital between January 1, 2008 and December 30, 2011 to determine cases involving anaphylaxis.

Results: A total of 516 (2.11%) patients among 24,443 admissions were diagnosed with anaphylaxis. Although the second highest frequency of anaphylaxis cases took place in 2008, a gradual rise in the frequency was determined from 2009 to 2011. Drugs (90.7%) were the most frequent cause, followed by Hymenoptera stings (5.4%), foods (1.6%), latex (0.4%), and exercise (0.2%) respectively. The clinical manifestations during anaphylaxis reported by patients were cutaneous (n = 292, 56.6%), respiratory (n = 253, 49%), cardiovascular (n = 212, 41%), neuropsychiatric (n = 60, 11.6%), and gastrointestinal (n = 52, 10.1%), respectively. Approximately one fifth of the patients received epinephrine, whereas 43% of patients did not receive epinephrine during their treatment in the emergency room. An epinephrine auto-injector was prescribed to 42 patients (8.1%).

Conclusion: In this study, the second pattern of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) diagnostic criteria for anaphylaxis predominated among adult patients. Drugs were the leading triggering factor, followed by Hymenoptera stings, foods, latex, and exercise, respectively. Atopy, asthma, and allergic rhinitis were rarely detected.