Tolerability of imidazole salycilate in aspirin-sensitive patients.

Over the last few years, many studies have been carried out in order to individualize which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) can be tolerated in aspirin sensitivity. Imidazole salicylate (IS) is a new NSAID that inhibits Tromboxane A2 synthesis, without interferring with cyclo-oxygenase pathway, whose inhibition was demonstrated to cause asthma and/or urticaria/angioedema in aspirin-sensitive patients. We enrolled 67 subjects with documented intolerance to aspirin, pyrazolones or NSAIDs, clinically manifested as urticaria/angioedema (68%), asthma, and/or rhinitis (32%). A challenge with IS was carried out in every patient in single-blind fashion, reaching a cumulative dosage of 1000 mg in the fourth session. No appearance of urticaria or bronchospastic reactions was registered in any subject, confirming the safe use of IS in aspirin-sensitive patients.