A 78-year-old woman visited the division of cardiovascular disease in our hospital. She underwent a cardiac catheter examination, and a Swan-Ganz catheter was inserted. Several minutes later, she developed anaphylactic shock. She had no past history of latex allergy, but did have a banana allergy. Skin prick tests showed a positive reaction to an extract of latex gloves and an extract of the ba...

First reported in 1979, anaesthetists now encounter more and more patients with latex allergy. Several risk groups prone to develop this allergy have been identified. A thorough preoperative interview is necessary to detect high-risk patients. For them, the perioperative period is very dangerous because of the many possibilities of contact with latex-containing materials. There is no cure for l...

While less than 1% of the general population is sensitized to latex, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that 8–12% of health-care workers are sensitized. The major source of workplace exposure is powdered natural rubber latex (NRL) gloves. NRL is harvested from Hevea brasiliensis trees and ammoniated to prevent coagulation resulting in the hydrolysis of the latex p...

You?re on to something here ? even when dealing with a potential latex sensitivity, it?s wise to still be thinking about safer sex strategies. But, an allergic reaction to latex can be one itchy situation, especially when it occurs down south! Fear not though, for there are non-latex options available (more on that in a bit). In the case of any sort of genital rash or irritation with unknown ca...

BACKGROUND Orthodontic tooth movement results from application of forces to teeth. Elastics in orthodontics have been used both intra-orally and extra- orally to a great effect. Their use, combined with good patient co-operation provides the clinician with the ability to correct both anteroposterior and vertical discrepancies. Force decay over a period of time is a major problem in the clinical...

Correspondence to: Takeshi Yagami, MS, Division of Medical Devices, National Institute of Health Sciences, Kamiyoga 118-1, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158 (Japan) Dear Sir, Recently type I hypersensitivity reactions caused by rubber latex gloves have frequently been reported, and some proteins eluted from rubber gloves are considered to be responsible for this allergy [1]. Although the molecular weights...

Anaphylaxis is a systemic, type I hypersensitivity reaction that often has fatal consequences. Anaphylaxis has a variety of causes including foods, latex, drugs, and hymenoptera venom. Epinephrine given early is the most important intervention. Adjunctive treatments include fluid therapy, H (1) and H (2) histamine receptor antagonists, corticosteroids, and bronchodilators; however these do not ...

BACKGROUND Several studies have recognized neuromuscular blocking agents as the most common cause of anaphylaxis during general anesthesia, but the reported frequencies vary considerably between countries. In Norway, the issue has raised special concern because of reports from the Norwegian Medicines Agency that suggest a high prevalence. This article presents the results from a standardized al...

This report consolidates previous recommendations and adds new ones for infection control in dental settings. Recommendations are provided regarding 1) educating and protecting dental health-care personnel; 2) preventing transmission of bloodborne pathogens; 3) hand hygiene; 4) personal protective equipment; 5) contact dermatitis and latex hypersensitivity; 6) sterilization and disinfection of ...