The drug ambassador project: the diversity of diagnostic procedures for drug allergy around Europe

Background: Drug allergy is an increasingly important clinical problem. About 5-10% of patients consulting allergy centers have some form of drug allergy or pseudo allergy. At present there is no consensus concerning the best way to study and diagnose hypersensitivity reactions to drugs. This leads both to practical difficulties in diagnosing individual patients and to more general problems in comparing protocols and results from different centers. Methods/Data base: The European Network for Drug Allergy (ENDA) Drug Ambassador Project aimed to collect information on the ways that different European centers approach these patients. Results: The present report summarizes data collected during this project, focussing on the organization of drug allergy consultations, diagnostic protocols and the various in vitro and in vivo investigation procedures in current use. The study revealed wide variation in the diagnostic procedures used for drug allergy in clinical practice, despite the apparent consensus achieved in recommendations and position papers. Conclusion: Reciprocal exchange of information and discussions based on these observations may help to achieve standardization and harmonization in this sector with significant potential benefits for patients with drug allergies.