[Intracutaneous desensitization in a case of insulin allergy with anaphylactic shock (author's transl)].

In a 72-year-old woman with keto-acidaemia due to out-of-control diabetes, anaphylactic reaction occurred immediately after intravenous administration of 8 units of insulin. Extensive intracutaneous testing with highly purified insulins, including sheep and human insulin, revealed an allergy of the immediate type against the insulin molecule itself. Desensitization with subcutaneous insulin administration failed. Intracutaneous insulin injection three hours apart, starting at a dilution of 1:100, produced good subcutaneous tolerance of insulin within seven days.