Anaphylactic shock after aprotinin reexposure: time course of aprotinin-specific antibodies.

We report a case of severe anaphylactic shock during a cardiac operation that occurred as a consequence of aprotinin readministration in the presence of preformed aprotinin-specific antibodies. Both immunoglobulin G (3 hours) and immunoglobulin E (5 minutes) antibody levels dropped early after the clinical event. Despite their possibly limited clinical significance, we still recommend the conductance of specific antibody screening tests before readministration of aprotinin.