Chronic Urticaria: The Necessity of Laboratory Examination

Background: Urticaria is a common dermatologic disease. About 20 per cent of the population experiences it in a life-time period. The aim of this study was to compare the various laboratory examinations of chronic urticaria patients and healthy individuals and to determine the necessity of laboratory tests in such patients. Materials and Methods: In this study 78 patients suffering from chronic urticaria and 67 healthy individuals (2-50 year-old) with analogous demographic features underwent ALT, AST, S/E, ESR, CBC, TSH, T4, C4, C3, CH50, ANA, anti-thyroglobulin, anti-peroxidase, and anti H. pylori antibodies testing. Results: Forty-one per cent of patients had increased IgE in comparison to 14.92% in normal subjects. Anti-thyroid antibodies were positive in 17.94% of cases while only 9% of normal individuals were positive (p < 0.05). Anti H. pylori antibodies were positive in 69.23 % of patients (all above 18-year-old) and 61.19 per cent of normal population (p > 0.05). No significant difference found in other variables. Conclusion: Urticaria is often diagnosed based on clinical grounds and no routine laboratory examination is required.