Podcast 697: Kounis Syndrome

<p><strong>Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Kounis syndrome is an allergic acute coronary syndrome</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Triggers include medications (antibiotics), insect bites, or other common allergens</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Believed to be due to mast cell activation, inflammatory cytokines, and platelet activation causing coronary vasospasm or plaque rupture in setting of existing atherosclerosis</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Consider Kounis syndrome in the setting of chest pain in anaphylaxis</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Treatment involves treatment of allergic reaction, although epinephrine should be used cautiously</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Avoid morphine as this can cause mast cell activation</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">AMA PRA Category 1 credits™</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our website at</span> <a href= "https://emergencymedicalminute.org/cme-courses/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">https://emergencymedicalminute.org/cme-courses/</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and create an account. </span></p> <p><a href= "https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=6bIZ91UwjZALMiRLAEcQYYPHyLILwbivQwgtGl3JzaB6oGAQK1B2nrGSGvrS-g7zJApXzVlWIO-lmLfB"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Donate to EMM today!</span></a></p>