BACKGROUND Urticaria is a common cause for consultation in general and specialised medical practices. There is scarce information on the characteristics of patients suffering acute urticaria in Latin America. OBJECTIVES To investigate demographic and clinical features of patients with acute urticaria attending two allergy clinics in Caracas, Venezuela. METHODS A prospective study of all new...

We appreciated the paper by Levy et al published in this journal in June 2003. A number of the cases of chronic urticaria in children appear to be of unknown aetiology, and experiences such as the one reported by the authors indicate an autoimmune origin. In our opinion the model of association between thyroiditis and chronic urticaria may apply to the association between coeliac disease and ch...

BACKGROUND Delayed pressure urticaria (DPU) is a distinct form of urticaria, characterized by marked dermal swelling, deep inflammatory infiltrate and systemic symptoms. Little is known about inflammatory mediators involved in this disease. OBJECTIVE To investigate secretion of platelet-specific chemokines, platelet factor 4 (PF-4) and beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG) during the course of DPU. ...

limited evidence has been obtained concerning the beneficial effects of autologous serum therapy in treatment of skin disorders particularly chronic urticaria. in the present study, we have assessed the effect of this treatment method in patients with chronic urticaria (cu). this randomized single-blind controlled trial was performed on fifty consecutive patients with chronic urticaria. the pat...

introduction: auto – immune disorders have been implicated as a cause for chronic uricaria and/ or angioedema and thyroid autoimmunity has been increasingly introduced to be associated with that. this study explores the association of thyroid autoimmunity with chronic urticaria and / or angioedema in isfahani patients. methods: anti – thyroperoxidase (ani – tpo) and anti – thyroglobulin (anti –...

Methotrexate has immunosuppressive effects and is administered for refractory chronic urticaria. We present a case of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in a patient with refractory chronic urticaria managed by low-dose weekly methotrexate treatment (total cumulative dose 195mg). Our study highlights the importance of providing prompt diagnosis and treatment of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in...

This guideline is the result of a consensus reached during a panel discussion at the 2nd International Consensus Meeting on Urticaria, Urticaria 2004, a joint initiative of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology Dermatology Section and the European Union (EU)-funded network of excellence, GA2LEN. It covers the definition and classification of urticaria, taking into account ...

Chronic spontaneous urticaria is an itching skin disease characterised by wheals, angioedema, or both present for more than six weeks. Omalizumab is a humanized anti-IgE monoclonal antibody recently approved for treatment of chronic urticaria. Several randomised controlled trials have investigated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of omalizumab for chronic urticaria. The safety of omalizum...

Schnitzler's syndrome is an unusual clinical association of chronic urticaria, intermittent fever and monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) gammopathy. The pathogenesis of the urticaria is unclear and treatment is problematic. We describe the case of a 61-year-old woman with a long history of chronic urticaria with severe pruritus, spiking fever and malaise. The IgM-kappa monoclonal component was d...

PURPOSE Although coagulation activation has been reported in chronic urticaria, data pertaining to detailed changes in coagulation factors and global coagulation status are lacking. The current study evaluated global coagulation status in patients with chronic urticaria using thrombin generation assay (TGA) and the levels of individual coagulation factors. METHODS Patients with chronic urtica...