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Previous Volume 354:2835-2837 June 29, 2006 Number 26 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: It is considered potentially harmful to administer imipenem–cilastatin to patients with IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to penicillins¹ because of a 47.4 percent rate of cross-reactivity (9 of 19 subjects) found in a single study² on the basis of positive skin tests involving imipenem reagents.

Between 1997 and 2005, we studied 112 consecutive patients with such hypersensitivity, diagnosed as previously described,³ in order to assess the cross-reactivity with imipenem–cilastatin and to evaluate the allergic responses to imipenem–cilastatin in patients who had negative skin tests. Our patients had had a total of 143 immediate reactions to penicillins. All patients had positive . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Romano, A., Viola, M., Gueant-Rodriguez, R.-M., Gaeta, F., Valluzzi, R., Gueant, J.-L. (2007). Brief Communication: Tolerability of Meropenem in Patients with IgE-Mediated Hypersensitivity to Penicillins. ANN INTERN MED 146: 266-269 [Abstract] [Full Text]