Assuntos

RESUMO

Chronic urticaria (CU) has a major effect on patients' quality of life. While there have been progressive advances regarding its pathogenesis and treatment, much remains to be done. Registries of other chronic non-communicable diseases have shown many benefits, such as additional basic knowledge and management approaches to diabetes mellitus. Standards of care as well as diagnostic approaches can be elaborated and compared from different sites, using validated instruments. Registries in allergic diseases are also becoming well recognized, and the first registry on CU, accessible from SLaai's webpage, includes parameters for identification, evaluation and management. In our vision, informatics strategies have the potential to improve care for chronic illnesses such as CU. The registry represents a valid instrument from which to obtain a sufficient sample size for epidemiological studies and/or clinical research planning, including feasibility and potential enrollment. It can also provide invaluable data for adapting guidelines to local populations, as well as diagnostic approaches and cost-effective interventions in the context of organizational efforts to improve patient care.

RESUMO

Biomarkers useful for the evaluation and management of patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) are not currently available. A review of various clinical and laboratory markers that have been studied to assess their value for determining the severity or predicting the evolution of disease in adult patients with CSU was carried out. A search of the medical literature on PubMed and MEDLINE including the terms urticaria, chronic urticaria, chronic idiopathic urticaria, CSU, severity, prognosis and treatment was performed. Based on our review of the literature, among the clinical markers studied, higher age at onset, being female, long disease duration and aspirin/NSAID hypersensitivity may be linked to both severe CSU and a long time to spontaneous remission. In addition, a positive autologous serum skin test (ASST) may be associated with severe CSU, and comorbidity of inducible urticaria and concomitant recurrent angio-oedema may be linked to longer CSU duration. Potential biomarkers of CSU severity and/or duration include basophil numbers and susceptibility to activation, inflammatory markers, markers of activation of the extrinsic coagulation pathway, immunoglobulin E and vitamin D. Although the described markers are promising, further studies on representative and well-characterized patient populations are needed to determine the value of these clinical and biological markers for predicting the severity and course of disease in patients with CSU.

Assuntos

Assuntos

Assuntos

RESUMO

The global allergy community strongly believes that the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) offers a unique opportunity to improve the classification and coding of hypersensitivity/allergic diseases via inclusion of a specific chapter dedicated to this disease area to facilitate epidemiological studies, as well as to evaluate the true size of the allergy epidemic. In this context, an international collaboration has decided to revise the classification of hypersensitivity/allergic diseases and to validate it for ICD-11 by crowdsourcing the allergist community. After careful comparison between ICD-10 and 11 beta phase linearization codes, we identified gaps and trade-offs allowing us to construct a classification proposal, which was sent to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) sections, interest groups, executive committee as well as the World Allergy Organization (WAO), and American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) leaderships. The crowdsourcing process produced comments from 50 of 171 members contacted by e-mail. The classification proposal has also been discussed at face-to-face meetings with experts of EAACI sections and interest groups and presented in a number of business meetings during the 2014 EAACI annual congress in Copenhagen. As a result, a high-level complex structure of classification for hypersensitivity/allergic diseases has been constructed. The model proposed has been presented to the WHO groups in charge of the ICD revision. The international collaboration of allergy experts appreciates bilateral discussion and aims to get endorsement of their proposals for the final ICD-11.

Assuntos

RESUMO

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 patients who consulted during a three-year period because of acute urticaria. Information on age, gender, symptom duration, previous medical history, body distribution of wheals and angio-oedema, laboratory investigations, skin prick tests, and pharmacological treatment, was collected. Patients were classified according to their age as children/adolescents and adults. RESULTS: Two hundred and forty eight patients (177 adults and 71 children) were studied. Acute urticaria was more frequent in middle-aged atopic female patients. Lesions more often involved upper and lower limbs and head, and 31% of patients exhibited generalised urticaria. Laboratory investigations, performed only in selected cases, did not contribute to the final diagnosis. Most frequent subtypes of acute urticaria were spontaneous, dermographic, papular, and drug-induced urticaria. Most patients were treated with non-sedating antihistamines, with increased use of cetirizine and levocetirizine in children, while 5.6% of children and 20.3% of adults required the addition of short courses of systemic corticosteroids. CONCLUSIONS: Acute urticaria is a frequent cause of consultation for allergists, affecting more often middle-aged female atopic patients. The use of extensive complementary tests does not seem to be cost-effective for this clinical condition. Spontaneous, dermographic, papular and drug-induced urticaria are the most common subtypes.

Assuntos

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: A subset of patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) experience disease exacerbations after receiving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This condition has been designated as Aspirin-Exacerbated Cutaneous Disease (AECD). OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was twofold: (i) Investigate the demographic and clinical features of patients affected by AECD; (ii) To compare patients with AECD and NSAID-tolerant CSU patients for those characteristics. METHODS: Patients with AECD and a group of unselected CSU patients tolerant to NSAIDs were studied. Demographic and clinical data were obtained by direct questioning and physical examination. Laboratory investigations and allergen skin prick tests were performed only in selected patients, as guided by the medical history. RESULTS: Of 423 CSU patients admitted in the clinics, 52 (12.2%) had AECD. Compared with NSAID-tolerant CSU patients, AECD patients had significantly longer disease duration (57.7 ± 118.4 vs. 24.4 ± 36.6 months, P < 0.05), higher prevalence of angio-oedema (72.7 vs. 30.9%, P < 0.05) and atopy (83.8% vs. 58.4%, P < 0.05) and more frequent involvement of the face and upper respiratory tract (54.5% vs. 29.6%, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: AECD is a distinct phenotype that should be considered for inclusion as a separate subtype of chronic spontaneous urticaria.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Chronic urticaria (CU) is one of the most puzzling clinical entities confronted by the medical profession. It is a common motive for consultation, and in a sizable proportion of patients no identifiable cause is evident. Since there are relatively few publications regarding CU in developing countries, we performed a prospective 3-year study on the demographic and clinical features of patients with CU. Four hundred and twenty-three subjects were studied, 52 children and 371 adults, 295 females (69.7%), with a mean age of 38.4 ± 17.8 years. More often, wheals and angioedema (AE) were present on the head, upper and lower limbs and the trunk. AE was present in 162 patients (38.4%). The most frequent subtypes were chronic spontaneous urticaria, aspirin-exacerbated cutaneous disease, dermographic urticaria, and combinations of various subtypes. A better understanding of the characteristics of patients suffering CU is helpful for clinicians dealing with this ailment, and provides guidance for new investigations on its pathogenesis, which will hopefully result in a better management of this vexing condition.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Nonsedating antihistamines are the first-choice treatment for all forms of urticaria. In patients with recalcitrant urticaria who do not respond to conventional doses of antihistamines, current guidelines recommend increasing doses by up to 4 times in order to obtain better control of the disease. Although few studies have been conducted, there are convincing data from controlled trials for cetirizine, levocetirizine, and desloratadine that support the use of increased doses of such drugs in unresponsive patients. The use of higher doses of antihistamines has not been associated with increased adverse effects or somnolence. More studies with other second-generation antihistamines are required in order to improve the treatment of patients with severe, recalcitrant urticaria.

Assuntos