Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Chronic Urticaria and Positive Skin Prick Testing to Mites

Abstract

The aim of this study was to review chronic idiopathic urticaria patients with positive skin prick testing to mites and the clinical relevance of this positivity. Case records of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria who underwent skin prick testing during the years 2000 to 2007 were reviewed. The studied allergens included house dust mite allergens; Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and farninae. A total of 172 patients were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of positive skin prick testing to mites among patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria was high (34.9%), but had little clinical relevance (3.3%) to their urticarial symptoms. Patients with mite-sensitization were more commonly male and more often had a personal or family history of atopy compared with those without mite-sensitization.

Atopy in chronic urticaria: an important yet overlooked issue

“…Kulthanan et al. ( 16 ) reported that HDM sensitization was more common in male patients with CU than in female patients, and Ping et al. demonstrated the same sex distribution difference in atopy in patients with CU in a larger sample study ( 31 ).…”

“…The positive sensitization rate of patients with CU to various allergens according to the skin prick test (SPT) or serum-specific IgE test ranged from 17.2–95.83% ( Table 1 ), which was significantly higher than that of healthy individuals ( 13 – 33 ). Among the allergens identified in patients with CU, house dust mites (HDM) are often the most common ( 13 , 14 , 16 , 26 , 29 ), followed by weed (mugwort and ragweed) and tree pollen, cereal pollen, cockroaches, weeds, cat hair, rat, and Candida albicans and mixed molds ( 17 , 19 , 21 , 22 , 31 , 32 ). In addition, an association between CU and Anisakis simplex (As) sensitization has been reported, and the sensitization rates to pollen, dander, and mold in patients with CU with sensitization to As (CU/As+) were significantly higher than those in patients without As sensitization (CU/As-) ( 18 ).…”

“…As summarized in Table 1 , Kulthanan et al. reported clinical correlations between allergen sensitization and urticaria symptoms ( 16 ), and Song et al. ( 23 ) reported more conclusive evidence.…”