Prognosis of Chronic Urticaria in Children

Objective: Chronic urticaria (CU) is defined as the recurring presence of urticaria, angioedema, or both, for a duration of six weeks or more. In most patients, it is a self-limiting disease. The study aimed to investigate the clinical findings, comorbidities, laboratory results, response to treatment and prognosis in children with CU. Material and Methods: Patients aged 0-18 years with CU followed up at the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Outpatient Clinic of Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine Hospital between January 2022 and March 2024 were included, and their medical records were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The study sample included 74 patients with CU. About 55.4% of the patients were girls. The mean age of the patients was 11 year (2.3-17.9). The mean follow-up period was 475 days (129-925). Sixteen patients (21.6%) had angioedema, while 15 patients (20.2%) reported presence of a trigger. Eleven patients (14.8%) had dermographism. Four patients (5.4%) were anti-thyroid peroxidase positive and seven patients (9.4%) were antinuclear antibody positive. Eosinopenia was present in 10 patients (13.5%), whereas basopenia was present in only two (2.7%) patients. Skin prick test detected positivity in 24 patients (32.4%). Sixty-eight patients (91.9%) responded to antihistamine and/or montelukast treatment, and omalizumab was prescribed to six patients (8.1%) showing no response to the conventional treatment. Conclusion: In pediatric CU patients, the disease is often self-limiting without the need for treatment with omalizumab. Drug compliance should be evaluated in patients with poor disease control.