Latin American chronic urticaria registry (CUR) contribution to the understanding and knowledge of the disease in the region

Abstract

Chronic urticaria (CU) has a widespread spectrum on causal or exacerbating factors, clinical manifestations, therapeutic response and quality of life affectation. Registries are useful tools in several real-life diagnosis and management approach. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics of CU patients living in Latin America through an original cross-sectional registry with data entered by regional allergologists. Results Three hundred patients were included, being 72% female, with median age of 36 years (1–85) and 20 months of CU median evolution time. The cause of CU was reported as unknown in 72% of them. Thirty-nine percent of suspected cases presented positive serology for Mycoplasma, positive autologous serum skin test (ASST) was reported in 47%, and occasional presence of thyroid or antinuclear autoantibodies and parasites. The impact of pruritus in their quality of life was moderate to severe in 60% of patients, with almost 3 out of four patients having partial or lack of urticaria control with anti-histamines. Conclusions Our registry provides retrospective data on the real-life assistance of a large number of patients from the region. Continuous search for associated conditions and better treatment possibilities are needed, in order to control the significant impact on quality of life and the length of disease.

Clinical and economic consequences of switching from omalizumab to mepolizumab in uncontrolled severe eosinophilic asthma

“…However, severe asthma still accounts for approximately half of asthma-associated healthcare costs 1 . The most important costs of severe asthma are mainly due to management of not controlled patients in terms of exacerbations, frequent access to health services, drug consumption, side effects of oral corticosteroids (OCS) use, treatment of comorbidities and losses from missed work and school days 2 , 3 . Most of these clinical aspects further extend beyond direct medical costs, and are also associated with personal problems leading to significant worsening of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), which negatively impacts on patients and caregivers 4 .…”

The Chronic Urticaria Registry: rationale, methods and initial implementation

“…A multinational Latin American CU registry ( N = 300) recently reported that 60% of patients had moderate to unbearable pruritus, and 40% had moderate to unbearable CU‐related anxiety, both according to the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire (CU‐Q 2 oL) 29 . Disappointingly, they also reported that 71% of patients did not achieve sufficient control with antihistamines 29 .…”

“…A multinational Latin American CU registry ( N = 300) recently reported that 60% of patients had moderate to unbearable pruritus, and 40% had moderate to unbearable CU‐related anxiety, both according to the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire (CU‐Q 2 oL) 29 . Disappointingly, they also reported that 71% of patients did not achieve sufficient control with antihistamines 29 . Although the Latin American CU registry has provided important information, it was available only in Latin American countries, retrospectively collected data on patients only at one time point per patient, excluded patients with CIndU only and is not yet much larger than most studies in the literature 25,29 .…”

“…Disappointingly, they also reported that 71% of patients did not achieve sufficient control with antihistamines 29 . Although the Latin American CU registry has provided important information, it was available only in Latin American countries, retrospectively collected data on patients only at one time point per patient, excluded patients with CIndU only and is not yet much larger than most studies in the literature 25,29 . The Latin American registry is still active, and we strongly encourage everyone in the region to participate in it, because registries need to reach large sample sizes or completely enrol all patients from the participating centres to fulfil their purposes.…”

Real‐life approach and treatment of chronic urticaria in Argentina: A National Survey

“…Current guidelines recommend nonsedative H1 antihistamines as first and second‐line treatments, and omalizumab for refractory cases (Larenas‐Linnemann et al, 2018; Zuberbier et al, ). However, it has been described that these recommendations are not universally taken into account (Firooz et al, ; Gómez et al, ; Ho et al, ).…”