Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria: Systemic Complaints and Their Relationship with Disease and Immune Measures.

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU)/chronic spontaneous urticaria sometimes report systemic complaints (SCs).

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the frequency and characteristics of SCs among patients with CIU, as well as the association of SCs with disease measures, basophil histamine release, and serum tryptase.

METHODS: Adult patients with CIU were recruited from a university allergy clinic. Patients completed a disease symptom survey and underwent blood sampling for subsequent basophil histamine release and serum tryptase measurement.

RESULTS: A total of 155 patients with CIU were surveyed, with 103 reporting SCs with concomitant hives as follows: joint pain or swelling (55.3%), headache/fatigue (47.6%), flushing (42.7%), wheezing (30.1%), gastrointestinal complaints (26.2%), and palpitations (9.7%). Patients with SCs (CIU-SC) were compared with those with no SCs (CIU-NSC). Both groups had similar demographic characteristics (average age in 40s, majority female and white) and basophil histamine release profiles. CIU-SC had significantly greater disease duration (51.5% CIU-SC vs 30.8% CIU-NSC had >4 years duration), emergency department visits (41.7% vs 23.1% had >1 visit in the last year), CIU-related work absences (65% vs 27.5% had >1 day), oral corticosteroid use (84.5% vs 59.6%), quality-of-life impairment (76.1 vs 59.2 SkinDex score), and serum tryptase levels (5.1 ng/mL vs 3.9 ng/mL).

CONCLUSIONS: Despite similar demographic characteristics and basophil profiles as patients with CIU-NSC, patients with CIU-SC have features of greater disease burden (work absences, emergency department visits, and corticosteroid use), quality-of-life impairment, and baseline serum tryptase levels.