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Query: UMLS:C0042109 (urticaria)
 6,569 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Urticaria and angioedema evoke a completely different differential diagnosis from angioedema without an associated urticarial syndrome. This review of the literature is to give the reader a global insight into the spectrum of urticaria and angioedema, focusing on differential diagnosis and pathogenic mechanisms. It will define the role of the mast cell, explore a possible autoimmune basis for urticaria, and examine the purported role of food allergy in chronic urticaria. Last, the work-up and treatment will be discussed. Urticaria and angioedema are frustrating problems for both physicians and their patients; however, the problem can best be approached by considering urticaria as a symptom rather than a specific disease. The physical examination and medical history remain the two most important pieces of information.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:Urticaria and angioedema. 1247 45

There are thousands of additives used by the food industry for a variety of purposes in the foods we eat. However, only a small number have been implicated in causing adverse reactions in humans. Although there are reported cases of individuals who have reactions to single additives, most of the medical literature involves patients with asthma or chronic idiopathic urticaria/angioedema whose conditions are exacerbated after ingestion of food additives. Many of these reports are characterized by poorly controlled challenge procedures. Recent studies performed under properly controlled conditions imply that sensitivity to food additives in patients with chronic urticaria/angioedema is very uncommon.
Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 2003 Jan
PMID:Adverse reactions to food additives. 1254 96

Primary acquired cold urticaria (ACU) is the most common type of cold urticaria characterized by rapid onset of pruritic hives, swelling, and possible severe systemic reactions including hypotension and shock after cold exposure. Primary ACU is diagnosed by history of such symptoms, a positive immediate cold-contact stimulation test, and negative laboratory evaluation for underlying systemic disorders. Clinicians should be aware that patients with ACU may be susceptible to life-threatening systemic reactions especially during aquatic activities and that proper patient education is extremely important. This article reviews the clinical presentation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of primary ACU.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:Primary acquired cold urticaria. 1263 72

Whether we are hiking in the back country or playing in our backyard, we run the risk of exposure to offending arthropods. Papular urticaria is a very common hypersensitivity reaction to the bites, stings, and contact with critters such as mites, ticks, spiders, fleas, mosquitoes, midges, flies, and even caterpillars. Children seem to be at greatest risk, although adults are also vulnerable. The classic presentation of papular urticaria includes recurrent pruritic papules or vesicles and varying degrees of local edema. Severity is often related to the host response to the salivary or contactant proteins. Our understanding of the immune mechanism continues to improve; however, our approach to therapy has remained essentially unchanged. Although this review admittedly reaches beyond papular urticaria, it is with the intention of improving the reader's recognition of the offending arthropods, the characteristics of reactions, and the current therapeutic approaches.
Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 2003 Jul
PMID:Papular urticaria and things that bite in the night. 1279 Dec 6

Previous observations have shown that the syndrome of thyroid autoimmunity and idiopathic urticaria and angioedema (ICUA) can be associated with a marked worsening of reactive airway disease. Possibly, mediators released in this syndrome may contribute to acute bronchospasm and associated respiratory symptoms in some patients. In this study, two patients presenting with overlapping clinical presentations of the syndrome of thyroid immunity and ICUA are described in whom a diagnosis of anaphylaxis to food and antibiotics, respectively, was initially suspected but ruled out by testing and challenges. These cases illustrate clinical overlap between presentations of ICUA and anaphylaxis. We suggest that patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis be evaluated for the presence of antithyroid microsomal (peroxidase) antibodies or antithyroglobulin antibodies, particularly because the diagnosis of thyroid antibody-positive ICUA may suggest additional therapeutic options.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:The syndrome of thyroid autoimmunity and idiopathic chronic urticaria and angioedema presenting as anaphylaxis. 1286 19

A 42-year-old woman reported immediate rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma, and contact urticaria while handling bird food. Skin-prick tests were positive to Lolium, Cynodon, Phragmites, Cupressus sempervirens, Cupressus arizonica, Chenopodium, sunflower pollen and seed, mugwort, chamomile, Chrysanthemum, Taraxacum, canary seed, and black seed (Guizotia abyssinica). The patient's serum-specific immunoglobulin (IgE) to Taraxacum, black seed, and canary seed was positive. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay inhibition studies revealed a 97 and 27% IgE-binding inhibition of whole canary food IgE by black seed and Taraxacum pollen, respectively. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis immunoblotting showed two IgE-binding protein bands of 11 and 44 kDa in the G. abyssinica extract. These two bands were totally inhibited by sunflower seed, mugwort, and Taraxacum extracts. Specific bronchial challenge with black seed extract was positive. The patient was able to feed her canary with birdseeds after she removed black seeds. We report a case of asthma caused by black seed (G. abyssinica) used as canary food in a patient previously allergic to pollen (olea europaea, grass, and mugwort) and sunflower seeds.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:Asthma induced by canary food mix. 1297 93

Aspirin and all nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a chemically heterogeneous group of compounds that share the ability to inhibit the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX). This inhibitory effect, especially of COX-1, is suggested as the mechanism underlying NSAID-induced hypersensitivity reactions. In this study, we evaluated the safety and convenience of a single full-dose challenge with nabumetone, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, in patients with hypersensitivity to nonselective NSAIDs (ns-NSAIDs). Twenty-four subjects with a history of hypersensitivity reactions to at least two different ns-NSAIDs on two different occasions were enrolled in the study. The patients were otherwise healthy and did not suffer from NSAID- or aspirin-induced asthma or urticaria. All subjects were orally challenged by a single full dose (1000 mg) of nabumetone, monitored closely in the hospital for the next 4 hours and contacted by telephone the next morning and 3-12 months afterward. Twenty-two patients tolerated nabumetone without any reaction during and after the challenge. One patient had a single urticarial lesion and one patient reported mild pruritus without objective signs, both of which resolved spontaneously. Thirteen patients, including the patient who responded with pruritus to the challenge, used nabumetone on several occasions during the follow-up period without any adverse reaction. Our study shows that in patients with a history of aspirin- and ns-NSAID-induced hypersensitivity reaction, a rapid one-step challenge with nabumetone was well tolerated. These initial data support the possibility that a single full dose of nabumetone can be tried as a safe alternative in most patients with a hypersensitivity reaction to ns-NSAIDs.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:Safe full-dose one-step nabumetone challenge in patients with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug hypersensitivity. 1297 96

This study evaluates the effectiveness and safety of cyclosporine (CsA) in the treatment of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria with a positive autologous serum skin test (ASST), who fail to respond to conventional therapy, and requiring long-term oral steroid treatment. In a double-blind study, 40 adults were assigned randomly to receive CsA (5 mg/kg per day for 8 weeks and then 4 mg/kg per day for 8 weeks) or cetirizine (10 mg/day) and then they were followed up for 9 months. After 2 weeks, the study was opened because 16 patients (40%) had daily severe relapses requiring systemic steroids treatment. All of these patients had been receiving antihistamines and, therefore, all patients also were assigned to the CsA treatment regimen (5 mg/kg per day for 8 weeks and then 4 mg/kg per day for 8 weeks). The ASST and clinical severity score were evaluated before and after treatment. All of the 40 patients completed the 16-week CsA course without dropping out because of relevant side effects. In three patients, CsA was reduced by 0.5 mg/kg per day after the 1st month of treatment for a mild and reversible increase in serum creatinine. During CsA treatment, 20 patients had relapses resolving spontaneously (8 patients) or with antihistamines (12 patients). During the 9-month follow-up period, 22 patients had relapses resolving spontaneously (10 patients) or with antihistamines (12 patients). Only two patients failed to complete the study because of severe symptoms occurring after 4 and 7 days of follow-up and requiring long-term steroid treatment. After 9 months of follow-up, 16 patients were still in full remission. The clinical severity score of chronic idiopathic urticaria dropped significantly by the end of the 4th month of treatment (p = 0.002) as well as by the completion of follow-up (p = 0.007). The ASST was negative in 13 patients and positive in 3 of 16 patients, with total remission of symptoms. Significant score reduction also was observed in patients experiencing relapses that resolved spontaneously (p = 0.005) or with antihistamines (p = 0.03). These results show the long-term efficacy and tolerability of CsA in patients with severe chronic idiopathic urticaria, unresponsive to conventional treatments.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:Treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria and positive autologous serum skin test with cyclosporine: clinical and immunological evaluation. 1297 97

The appearance of more than one physical urticaria (PU) in the same patient has been documented; cold urticaria or dermatographism in association with some other type of PU are encountered more frequently. Three female patients exhibiting multiple PUs simultaneously are presented. In one female patient four different forms of PU could be shown with the appropriate challenge tests; the other two female patients exhibited five different types. The longest postdiagnosis follow-up, with objective evaluation and persistence of all PUs, was 6 years in one subject. The co-occurrence of two, three, or four PU types has been published in the relative literature; no cases of five PUs have been reported previously.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:Multiple physical urticarias: report of three cases and review of the literature. 1461 30

The association of chronic urticaria (CU) to parasitic infestations has been poorly studied. Recently, sensitization to the parasite larva Anisakis simplex has been described as the cause of acute urticaria and anaphylaxis. The aim of this work was to study the relationship between sensitization to A. simplex and CU. One hundred one patients with CU were studied. Data of possible contacts with A. simplex were collected and the usual CU study was performed. Furthermore, total and specific immunoglobulin E (IgE; Pharmacia CAP system IGE fluorescence enzyme immunoassay: CAP) to A. simplex, Ascaris lumbricoides, Echinococcus granulosus, and Toxocara canis were determined as well as skin-prick test with A. simplex and serology to E. granulosus. In accordance with the results of the CAP to A. simplex, the patients were divided into two groups, positive and negative, and, subsequently, subdivided into two other subgroups that were alternatively told to stop eating fish or seafood in their diet or to continue with their normal diet. Checkups were performed at 6, 12, and 18 months. Thirty-five percent of the patients had positive skin tests to A. simplex, and CAP to A. simplex was positive in 55%. The fish-eating habits, acute or chronic gastrointestinal disease, and the background of abdominal surgery were not related to the results of the CAP and/or skin test to A. simplex. A total of 21.8% of all the patients had detectable CAP to A. lumbricoides, 91% of whom had positive CAP to A. simplex. Three patients had specific IgE to T. canis and five patients had specific IgE to E. granulosus, in the absence of positive serology. All had specific IgE to A. simplex. Present infestation could not be proved in any of them. The clinical evolution and variations of CAP to A. simplex and of total IgE were not statistically different among the groups during the 6, 12, and 18 months of the study. The percentage of sensitization to A. simplex in patients with CU is elevated and determines the sensitization to other parasites because of cross-reactivity. We have not found any causal relationship between the presence of specific IgE to A. simplex and CU. The clinical importance of this finding in this disease is still undetermined.
Allergy Asthma Proc
PMID:Is Anisakis simplex responsible for chronic urticaria? 1461 34


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