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A "Cinderella" Disease With a Negative Impact on Quality of Life and Health Care Costs

Gil Yosipovitch, MD; Malcolm Greaves, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2008;144(1):102-103.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) is defined as the daily or almost daily occurrence of spontaneous pruritic wheals for at least 6 weeks.¹ Although good epidemiological data are lacking, the prevalence in an outpatient dermatology clinic is around 4%.² Angioedema is associated with CIU in about 40% of cases³ and, although it causes serious distress and disability, is hardly ever fatal. Physical urticarias such as symptomatic dermatographism and delayed pressure urticaria frequently occur concurrently with CIU.

Chronic idiopathic urticaria is positively associated with autoimmune thyroid disease⁴ and itself has an autoimmune basis in 30% to 50% of white patients^5-7 owing to the presence of functional IgG autoantibodies reactive with the chain of the high-affinity IgE receptor FcR1 or, less commonly, against IgE. These patients are recognized by the autologous serum skin test results⁸; confirmation of the diagnosis requires in vitro demonstration of histamine-releasing . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Annual Direct and Indirect Health Care Costs of Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria: A Cost Analysis of 50 Nonimmunosuppressed Patients
Laura K. DeLong, Steven D. Culler, Sarbjit S. Saini, Lisa A. Beck, and Suephy C. Chen
Arch Dermatol. 2008;144(1):35-39.
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