You see a patient who says, "my mom told me I was allergic to penicillin." You brush it off until he says, "my throat swelled up, I lost consciousness, I had whole-body hives, and I spent a week in the pediatric intensive care unit." Eeek! Now, you had wanted to use a cephalosporin, but I guess you'll have to use aztreonam (the first molecule shown).Challenge: Unfortunately this is a clinical pearl that you either know or don't know. Aztreonam has a similar side chain to the beta-lactam drug shown in the second picture. If the patient has a specific allergy to this antibiotic, he should not get aztreonam. What is it?
Both images are in the public domain, from Wikipedia.
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2 comments:
ceftazidime ?
Wow, yes! Nice pharmacology
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"My Mom Told Me..."
Ceftazidime has an identical side chain to aztreonam. Although according to a 2001 article, there have been no cases of clinical allergies to aztreonam in PCN allergic patients, it is still recommended that aztreonam be avoided in patients allergic to ceftazidime.
Sources: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; Wikipedia.
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