title: Characteristics of anaphylaxis in children referred to a tertiary care center.
abstract: Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening condition. There are limited data about the etiology and the clinical characteristics in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of anaphylaxis patients attending our pediatric allergy clinic. We conducted a prospective analysis of patients who were admitted to our allergy clinic for anaphylaxis from 2010 to 2012. Ninety-six patients were evaluated during the study period. The mean age was 7.4 ± 5.2 years. Venom, food, and drugs were the most common causative agents responsible for 31 (32.3%), 30 (31.3%), and 26 (27.1%) of the cases, respectively. Foods implicated most frequently were peanuts and nuts (n = 9; 30.0%), cow's milk (n = 7; 23.3%), and egg white (n = 6; 20.0%). The clinical manifestations during anaphylaxis in order of frequency were cutaneous (97.9%), respiratory (86.5%), gastrointestinal (42.7%), neurological (37.5%), and cardiovascular symptoms (30.2%). A biphasic course was noticed in five cases (5.2%). Of the 91 patients, 79 (86.8%) received H1-antihistamines, 73 (80.2%) received corticosteroids, 40 (44.4%) received adrenaline, 38 (41.8%) received fluid replacement therapy, 18 (19.8%) received β2-mimetics, and 8 (8.8%) received H2-antihistamines. According to severity, 7.3% of patients had mild, 59.4% had moderate, and 33.3% had severe anaphylaxis. Food and bee venom allergy were the most common etiologies. Adrenaline, the first-line treatment of anaphylaxis, was administered in only 44.4% of our cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Allergy and Clinic Immunology, Ankara Children's Hematology Oncology Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vezir
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erkoçoğlu
authors.forename: Ayşenur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.forename: Müge
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toyran
authors.forename: Celal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Özcan
authors.forename: Ayşegül
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akan
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Azkur
authors.forename: Tayfur
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Giniş
authors.forename: Ersoy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Civelek
authors.forename: Can Naci
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Kocabaş
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology