6/25/2012
Have any studies looked at any association between red meat allergy and porcine heparin allergy? Although the heparin package insert indicates a contraindication to using porcine heparin in pork-allergic patients, I could not find any such studies. One of my red meat allergy patients recently was given porcine heparin during a cardiac cath. Thanks!

Thank you for your inquiry.

I assume that you are referring to allergy to galactose-1,3-alpha-galactose (alpha-gal) when you mention "red meat allergy." If so, the issue would be whether or not porcine heparin was contaminated with a sufficient quantity of alpha-gal to produce a reaction.

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any studies addressing this issue, and could not find any reference to it on a literature search. However, I assume it would be unlikely that a sufficient amount of alpha-gal would be present in porcine heparin.

Thank you again for your inquiry and we hope this response is helpful to you.

Sincerely,
Phil Lieberman, M.D.