Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 359, Issue 9309, 9 March 2002, Pages 852-853
The Lancet

Research Letters
Fatal allergic vasculitis associated with celecoxib

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)07922-9Get rights and content

Summary

We report on the occurrence of a rare and as yet unforseeable adverse reaction to treatment with celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective, non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug. A previously healthy adult suffered fatal acute multiple organ failure presumably after diffuse allergic vasculitis with diffuse necrotic purpura. Although no conclusive proof is available, such a reaction could have been triggered by at least one of two mechanisms: an allergic reaction linked to the chemical structure of celecoxib; or an interaction of the drug with synthesis of endothelial eiconasoids leading to an imbalance between vasoactive end products, resulting in widespread rise to local thrombosis.

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