Empowered Patient Podcast Debunking the Myth of Iodine Allergy Related to Contrast Agents Used in Imaging Procedures with Dr. Nicole Wulf FDB
Dr. Nicole Wulf is a clinical pharmacist at FDB and has recently published a study of the current evidence regarding iodine containing compounds and iodine allergy cross-reactivity. Overall they found that there was a lack of evidence that iodine is an allergen and can cause hypersensitivity reactions particularly from contrast media used in imaging.
Nicole explains, "In my job, I'm always looking for ways in which we can improve the allergy alerts for clinicians. This is one thing that I have some questions about, and it made a lot of sense because iodine is part of the thyroid hormone in the body. So to me, it didn't make any sense for us to continue to let people spread the myth that iodine could be an allergen."
"I started pulling the literature and looking at it. It made a lot of sense that this was something that we needed to stop telling people that iodine was an allergen and that we shouldn't be putting it on patient profiles anymore because it was affecting patient care. People might not get the imaging studies they need or not the prescribed amiodarone, even though it's the best choice to treat their rhythm abnormalities."
"Some of the goal was definitely to educate clinicians to stop asking patients, are you allergic to iodine. Or when you're doing an imaging study, stop asking, are you allergic to seafood or shellfish, because they are totally unrelated. The seafood and shellfish reaction is the result of an allergy to a protein, not the iodine."
@FDB_US #ClinicalResearch #IodineAllergy #ImagingTests #MedSafety #PtSafety