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Fatal Pseudo-Anaphylaxis by Intramuscular Injection of Benzene and Related Substances

From the Department of Pathology of the University of Chicago

Abstract

Fatal pseudo-anaphylactic shock is produced in guinea pigs and other species by the repeated intramuscular injection of benzene and related chemicals. Death is due to bronchospasm. Similar reactions are caused by the inhalation and the intravenous injection of benzene in animals who have had no previous experience with the drug. The spasm is not relieved by epinephrine or atropine. It appears quickly, and disappears equally rapidly after forced ventilation of the lungs. Repeated intramuscular injections are necessary, not to cause a state of true allergy, but to produce an area of inflammation from which the benzene at subsequent injections is absorbed in sufficient amounts to produce a bronchospasm.