Chronic inducible urticaria: Clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management

Chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU) is a subtype of chronic urticaria characterized by recurrent itchy wheals and/or angioedema for more than 6 weeks. CIndU has a longer disease duration than chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and wheals are shorter lasting than CSU. CIndU incudes physical and non-physical urticaria. Triggers and diagnosis of subtypes of CIndU differ from each other. Patient education for avoiding triggers is an important aspect of the treatment of CIndU. There is no significant difference in the treatment approach for CIndU and CSU. In this article, we have discussed different types of CIndU, their clinical features, diagnosis, and management.

Chronic Urticaria: A Swedish Registry-based Cohort Study on Population, Comorbidities and Treatment Characteristics

Swedish databases present unique opportunities to research population data on diseases and treatments. The current study is, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive registry-based study on a chronic urticaria population in Sweden to date. The aim of this study was to describe the chronic urticaria population in Stockholm County regarding epidemiology, demographics, comorbidity, healthcare usage and treatment patterns in relation to current international guidelines. Real-world data were extracted between 2013 and 2019, yielding 10,642 adult patients. Study period prevalence of chronic urticaria was 0.53%, the mean annual incidence was approximately 0.08%, and 68% of patients were female. Regarding diagnosis, 58% were first diagnosed in primary care, approximately 50% were diagnosed before the age of 40 years. Regarding type of urticaria, 89% had chronic spontaneous urticaria, 11% had chronic inducible urticaria, and 5% of patients with chronic urticaria had coexisting angioedema. Common coexisting diagnoses were, for example, asthma, allergy, psychiatric and behavioural disorders and cardiometabolic disorders. Treatment patterns generally followed guidelines, yet data indicated that guidelines were not fully implemented, especially in primary care.

Experience with anti – IgE – therapy in children with chronic inducible urticaria: clinical cases.

Introduction: in children with chronic inducible urticaria, anti-IgE therapy is possible when combined with chronic spontaneous urticaria, otherwise the treatment is considered "off label", since there are no approved recommendations for this category of patients due to insufficient research on the effectiveness, prescription and duration of such treatment Conclusion: Based on clinical cases, the authors present there own experience of successful anti-IgE- therapy of various clinical manifestations of chronic inducible urticaria in children.

Long term treatment with omalizumab in adolescent with refractory solar urticaria

Background Solar urticaria represents an uncomfortable form of chronic inducible urticaria. First and second-line treatments are ineffective in some patients, leading to an impairment in their quality of life. Omalizumab represents a safe therapeutic option in case of refractory solar urticaria. Case presentation We update a case of a 21-year-old Caucasian girl affected by solar urticaria from the age of 14. Poor disease control was achieved with standard or high-dose of H1-antihistamines. Several omalizumab courses, including a 1-year-long course, were practiced resulting in clinical remission and significant improvement in patient’s quality of life. Conclusion Our experience confirms the effectiveness and safety of omalizumab for the management of refractory solar urticaria. Future studies are awaited in order to monitor long term effects and chronic doses of this treatment, particularly in patients who need concomitant therapy with antihistamines.

Cholinergic urticaria: novel aspects of pathogenesis, diagnosis and management

Cholinergic urticaria (CholU) is a chronic inducible urticaria, characterised by itchy pinpoint wheals up to 3 mm in diameter, surrounded by a prominent flare, that occur following an exposure to characteristic triggers such as active or passive heating, physical exercise, emotions, hot or spicy foods. Key pathophysiologic mechanisms include immediate hypersensitivity to autologous sweat antigens, functional sweating disorders, impaired acethylcholine metabolism, abnormal skin vascular permeability and disturbed skin innervation. Clinical manifestations of CholU may vary from typical itchy pinpoint urticarial lesions, angioedema to anaphylaxis. Atypical CholU forms include cholinergic pruritus, cholinergic dermographism, cold cholinergic urticaria and persistent cholinergic erythema. The diagnosis of cholinergic urticaria relies on patients history, сlinical manifestations and challenge tests. Treatment options include nonsedating H1 antihistamines in standard or increased doses. The evidence is accumulating for the use of biological treatment with omalizumab in cholinergic urticaria. The prospect of personalized treatment of cholinergic urticaria include autologous sweat desensitization. The main research efforts in ColdU are directed at optimizing diagnostic approaches and developing innovative therapeutic options.

Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria – Diagnosis and Management

Chronic urticaria can be subclassified into chronic spontaneous urticaria and chronic inducible urticaria. Up to 30% of cases are associated with functional immunoglobulin G antibodies to the high affinity immunoglobulin E receptor FcεRIα or to immunoglobulin A. Pathogenic activation of mast cells and basophils gives rise to release of pro-inflammatory mediators that lead to development of hives. CSU is a debilitating disease with a relapsing course. It affects 0.5–1% of the population at any given time. The duration of CSU is generally 1–5 years but can be longer in cases associated with angioedema and autoreactivity. CSU has detrimental effects on life quality with sleep-deprivation and psychiatric disorders being the most frequent. In a great number of patients an underlying cause or eliciting factor cannot be identified. Among the patients in which an aetiology is suspected, infections, medication, food and psychological factors are most commonly associated. A potential autoimmune cause has been reported in up to 50% of patients. Chronic inducible urticaria is characterised by its ability to be triggered consistently and reproducibly in response to a specific stimulus (pressure, temperature, vibration, water, heat, light). Antihistamines form the mainstay of therapy. In recalcitrant chronic urticaria, a variety of other drugs have been tried.