0
ARTICLE |

Choice of Steroid For Treatment of Drug Hypersensitivity

R. Brian Smith, MD; H. Douglas, MD; J. Petruscak, MD
JAMA. 1972;222(10):1312. doi:10.1001/jama.1972.03210100060032.
Text Size: A A A
Published online

To the Editor.—  The recent article entitled "Sudden Appearance of Cardiac Arrhythmias" by Schmidt et al1 brought to our attention that one of the preservatives in dexamethasone (Decadron) is methylparaben.Methyl and propyl parabens are used extensively as preservatives in local anesthetics and parenteral penicillin preparations. These drugs can cause hypersensitivity reactions.Paraben allergies have already been cited as a cause of intractable dermatitis by Schorr.2 A possible cross-sensitivity between the parabens, which are derivatives of parahydroxybenzoic acid, and structurally related procaine has been postulated by deJong.3This raises the question of choice of steroid preparation that should be used for the treatment of hypersensitivity reactions. Many injectable preparations of steroids contain parabens and it would seem advisable to select one that does not.If a hypersensitivity reaction is due to a preservative, then addition of more of this preservative with a steroid would be inappropriate. Perhaps

Topics

Sign In to Access Full Content

Don't have Access?

Register and get free email Table of Contents alerts, saved searches, PowerPoint downloads, CME quizzes, and more

Subscribe for full-text access to content from 1998 forward and a host of useful features

Activate your current subscription (AMA members and current subscribers)

Purchase Online Access to this article for 24 hours

Figures

Tables

Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

References

CME
Accreditation Information
The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
You have not filled in all the answers to complete this quiz
The following questions were not answered:
Sorry, you have unsuccessfully completed this CME quiz with a score of
The following questions were not answered correctly:
Commitment to Change (optional):
Indicate what change(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
Your quiz results:
The filled radio buttons indicate your responses. The preferred responses are highlighted
For CME Course: A Proposed Model for Initial Assessment and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes
Indicate what changes(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Submit a Response

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

Sign In to Access Full Content

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.

Jobs