AUTOLOGOUS SERUM INJECTION IN CHRONIC URTICARIAL

Background: Chronic urticaria is usually diagnosed when wheals occur daily or almost daily associated with redness and itching for more than 42 days due to leak of fluid from blood vessels in the dermis, however, these symptoms often on and off. It is one of the demanding and bothersome therapeutic problems seen by dermatologist and it is classified according to the aggravating factors, among the aggravation factors are the autoantibody. The aim: To assess the effectiveness of autologous serum therapy in treatment of chronic urticaria Patients and method: Five ml venous blood was withdrawn from the patient arm, centrifuged in sterile tube (4000 RPM) for 10 minutes, 2 ? 3 cc of the patient serum was injected intramuscularly, the process was repeated weekly for 9 weeks and the patients were followed up to 21 weeks. Disease assessment was done clinically, the need for antihistamines and the effect of the disease on quality of life of the patient and observation of any complications. Results: Thirty patients were included in the current study. Their age ranged from 16 ? 58 years, the commonest age group affected was 21 ? 30 years, there were 19 females (63.33%) and 11 males (36.66%), female to male ratio was 1.7:1. Duration of symptoms varies from less than one year to more than 10 years. Fifty percent of the involved patients completely responded to this form of treatment and 40% had partial improvement. Response to treatment is related to the duration of symptoms, age and gender of the affected patients. Conclusions: There is promising response of this type of treatment. Better response are reported in females, age between 30 and 50 years and with shorter duration of symptoms.