Evaluation of etiological factors and clinical parameters of acute urticaria in children treated at Pediatric Internal Diseases Clinic, Clinical Center Niš

Introduction: Urticaria is a disease of polyetiological origin characterized by skin manifestations (wheals, angioedema or both) and it is frequently seen in childhood. Based on its duration, urticaria can be classified into acute and chronic; and based on causative agents urticaria is divided to spontaneous and inducible. The etiological trigger factors of acute urticaria include infections, medications and food. Aim: Evaluation of etiological factors and clinical parameters of acute urticaria in childhood. Material and methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of medical documentation which included 65 patients with acute urticaria who were treated at the Pediatric Internal Diseases Clinic, Clinical Center Nis, during the period from January 2015 to December 2016. Results: In all subjects, regardless of age, infection was the most frequent factor (42.7%) that preceded the urticaria, while in 13.4% of children infection was associated with the use of medications. In children under 3 years of age, food was the most frequent trigger factor (23.5%), while in older children (above the age of 3) more frequent trigger factor which preceded the acute urticaria was the use of medication during the infection. Among the investigated patients, 63.1% of them had clinical manifestation of urticaria, 20% had angioedema, while 16.9% of patients had urticaria and angioedema at the same time. The evaluation of the laboratory parameters showed high incidence of neutrophilia (40.6%) and increased CRP values (32.5%). Conclusion: the most common trigger factors which caused acute urticaria in childhood were the upper respiratory tract infections. A high incidence of medications was detected in the group of children older than three years, while in children younger than 3 years, food was detected as the most frequent potential cause. Neutrophilia and increased CRP values were laboratory parameters associated with infections.