Abstract
<h3>Introduction</h3> Patients with documented radiocontrast media (RCM) hypersensitivity reactions may require allergy testing or pretreatment prior to imaging with RCM, which may delay studies and is not without side effects. An RCM allergy is often incorrectly associated with iodine and shellfish allergies, but the frequency of this is not well characterized. <h3>Methods</h3> This is a retrospective chart review of patients within the electronic medical record (EMR). Terms used to indicate RCM, iodine, and shellfish allergies were obtained and the EMR was searched in October 2021 for patients with one or more qualifying allergies. Demographic information and allergy data was obtained for these patients. <h3>Results</h3> 21745 patients were identified: 14968 female, 6775 male, and 2 other. Among these patents, there were 24333 qualifying allergies: 6752 RCM (31.05%), 7398 iodine (34.02%), and 10183 shellfish (46.83%). 19338 patients (88.93%) had one qualifying allergy, 2226 patients (10.24%) had two (840 contrast and iodine, 363 contrast and shellfish). 181 patients (0.83%) had all 3. Contrast reactions were: 581 anaphylaxis (8.6%), 1961 cutaneous (29%), 183 gastrointestinal (2.71%), 187 respiratory (2.77%), 3578 other/unknown (52.99%). <h3>Conclusion</h3> The majority of patients with documented RCM allergies had cutaneous or unspecified reactions, with 17.82% of these patients having overlapping contrast and iodine (12.44%) or shellfish (5.38%) allergies. It is unclear whether this represents true IgE mediated allergic reactions. More work is needed to standardize reaction documentation to identify true hypersensitivity reactions versus adverse reactions or side effects and to prevent unnecessary testing.
Published Version
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