title: Anaphylactic response to topical fluorescein 2% eye drops: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The intravenous use of fluorescein 10% during retinal angiography can cause severe systemic reactions including, on rare occasions, anaphylaxis. Fluorescein 2% eye drops are used extensively for clinical examination and diagnosis, but to the best of our knowledge, they have only been reported as being responsible for a systemic anaphylactic response on two previous occasions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report the case of a 51-year-old woman who developed an anaphylactic reaction when she was administered fluorescein sodium 2% eye drops after cataract surgery. This was the second time she had been exposed to fluorescein. She had brittle asthma and a history of anaphylaxis following exposure to a variety of drug and food allergens. She was successfully resuscitated and recovered completely over a period of two days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fluorescein 2% drops are universally used in general practice, ophthalmology, optometry, and casualty departments. Our case report reveals the potential for this benign eye drop to cause a life-threatening systemic reaction and emphasises the importance of considering this consequence when administering topical fluorescein 2% to a patient with a history of anaphylaxis to other allergens.
authors.affiliation: Oxford Eye Hospital, West Wing, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. hummashahid@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Humma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shahid
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Salmon