Unusual, Uncommon, Intriguing, and Significant Causes of Kounis Syndrome: Important Medications and Chemicals Used to Treat Kounis Syndrome and Myocardial Infarction Can Cause Kounis Syndrome
Mast cell degranulation and other interacting and linked cells, including T-lymphocytes, macrophages, eosinophils, and platelets, as well as a range of inflammatory mediators produced during an anaphylactic or allergic reaction, constitute the main causes of Kounis syndrome. Acute ischemia episodes, coronary spasm, atheromatous plaque erosion/rupture, and platelet activation can all be caused by histamine, tryptase, arachidonic acid derivatives, and chymase in the Kounis syndrome cascade. Kounis syndrome can be triggered by a variety of factors, including medications, hymenopteran stings, metals, foods, environmental exposures, illnesses, and immunizations. In addition, some unusual, rare, intriguing, and significant causes of Kounis syndrome have been discovered recently, namely the "kiss of death", where human kissing and pet kissing can induce fatal Kounis syndrome. Moreover, the clinical conundrum is that several of the main drugs and substances used to treat myocardial infarction and Kounis syndrome, such as adrenaline (epinephrine), aspirin, atropine, clopidogrel, corticosteroids, heparins, protamine sulfate, and hirudotherapy can also initiate it. Therefore, physicians should be aware of this clinical discrepancy to prevent catastrophic consequences.
Authors
- Nicholas G. Kounis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9751-6710)
- Virginia Mplani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1610-0156)
- Maria Bozika (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8215-427X)
- Cesare de Gregorio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3022-266X)
- Grigorios Giamouzis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7406-5427)
- Uğur Özkan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7552-7654)
- Ming‐Yow Hung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6912-7523)
- Alexandros Stefanidis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5814-1859)
- Alexandr Ceasovschih (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0043-9051)
- Nicholas Patsouras
- Ioanna Koniari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1033-5299)
- Marina Michalaki
- Kassiani-Maria Nastouli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3320-408X)
- Periklis Dousdampanis
- Sophia N. Kouni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2544-1044)
Institutions
- University of Messina (IT)
- Trakya University (TR)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- University of Patras (GR)
- General University Hospital of Patras (GR)
- Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy (RO)
- Liverpool College (GB)
- Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (GB)
- University Hospital of Larissa (GR)
- General Hospital of Nikea (GR)
- Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital (TW)
- Taipei Medical University (TW)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease
- Published
- 2025-10-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12110423
- Primary Topic
- Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00