Cutaneous hypersensitivity to vitamin K1 injection

Abstract

Cutaneous hypersensitivity to vitamin K1 injection has been reported once in North America. This case and most of the others in European literature have been associated with alcoholic liver disease. We report six patients who developed persistent skin hypersensitivity reactions at the site of vitamin K1 injection. These cases are the first reported to occur in liver disease associated with primary biliary cirrhosis, chronic myeloid leukemia, amyloidosis, and preeclampsia. Patch and intradermal skin tests demonstrated a hypersensitivity that seems to have an immune basis and is restricted to fat-soluble vitamin K1. This finding suggests that patients with any type of liver disease may be at risk for vitamin K hypersensitivity and that the hypersensitivity may be a marker of liver disease.