May 23, 2013

Autologous Serum Skin Test as a Diagnostic Aid in Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria

ISRN Dermatology
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 291524, 4 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/291524
Clinical Study

Autologous Serum Skin Test as a Diagnostic Aid in Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria

1Department of Dermatology and Venereology, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Medical Collection Office, P.O. Box 61211, Baghdad 12114, Iraq
2Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq
Received 26 February 2013; Accepted 27 March 2013
Academic Editors: A. Firooz, J. Y. Lee, and W. Vanscheidt
Copyright © 2013 Hayder R. Al-Hamamy et al. This is an open access article distributed under theCreative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background. Chronic urticaria is defined as urticaria persisting daily for more than six weeks. A significant number of patients had autoimmune basis where autologous serum skin test is widely used for detection of chronic autoimmune urticaria. Objectives. To estimate the frequency of autoimmune urticarial in Iraqi patients utilizing the autologous serum skin test and to evaluate its results with the variable clinical features of chronic idiopathic urticaria. Methods. In this prospective study, 54 patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria were investigated with autologous serum skin test where its results were examined with the different clinical parameters of chronic autoimmune urticaria. Results. Twenty two patients (40.7%) out of 54 patients with chronic idiopathic urticarial had positive autologous serum skin test. Statistical analysis of the clinical variables did not show a significant difference between patients with positive and negative autologous serum skin test except for the distribution of wheals on the face and extremities which was significantly associated with positive autologous serum skin test results (P value 0.004). Conclusion. Autologous serum skin test is a simple, office-based test for detecting chronic autoimmune urticaria patients who have no distinctive clinical features differentiating them from chronic idiopathic urticaria patients.

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