Allergic Reactions to ACTH

1.Sensitization to ACTH is becoming more frequent; symptoms may include urticaria, angio-edema, convulsions, shock and death.2.Eight reactions are reported including three with cerebral manifestations and one with shock.3.Convulsions may be due to either an allergy or a predisposition to epilepsy. We were unable to determine which of the two was present in our three patients.4.Our reactions were probably due to ACTH itself, rather than to any contaminating antigen.5.ACTH remains a valuable drug, but should be used only when indicated. Once a patient has reacted to it, he should not receive it again.