Materials and Methods
This retrospective study included children up to age 18 years, with the
diagnosis of CSU, treated at the Allergy Unit of Meir Medical Center,
Israel, 2002–2018. CSU was defined in accordance with Sahiner et
al.2-4 Briefly, urticarial lesions appearing most days
for at least 6 weeks, with or without accompanying angioedema.
Data for the entire cohort were retrieved from Clalit Health Services
electronic record system. All medical records were reviewed by a
specialist in allergy and clinical immunology from the date of CSU
diagnosis to December 2018.
Data collected included: (a) Demographic parameters, (b) CSU duration,
treatment, and relapses, (c) Laboratory tests, (d) Co-morbidities
including asthma, allergic rhinitis, food allergy, atopic dermatitis,
autoimmune thyroid diseases, celiac, SLE, diabetes mellitus, juvenile
rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS) and psychiatric disorders and (e) Chronic medications for
other comorbidities.
Treatment modalities with antihistamines were defined as: Regular doses
of antihistamines included 5 mg desloratadine daily or according to
weight, 10 mg/day loratadine or according to weight, or 180 mg
fexofenadine. High-dose antihistamines included up to 20 mg daily
desloratadine or comparable dose of other antihistamine drugs.
Relapse was defined as a second episode of CSU with a gap of at least 6
months, without urticaria and without treatment for urticaria.
To analyze potential various age-related differences, patients were
grouped according to age at CSU diagnosis: 0-3, 4-8, 9-12, and 13-18
years.
As CSU can be confused with AD, we analyzed the results with and without
the patients diagnosed with both CSU and AD. Only data with significant
differences are presented.
The study was approval by the Ethics Committee of Meir Medical Center.