title: Mastocytosis: one year's experience.
abstract: The diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis without urticaria pigmentosa has been made with increasing frequency since modern methods of histamine assay have been used clinically. We examined the incidence of urticaria-angioedema and mastocytosis over a recent 12-month period. Of 490 new patients we saw, 52 had urticaria-angioedema, and ten had evidence of excess histamine +/- PGD2, with at least ten mast cells per high-power field on skin biopsy. The average age was approximately 35 years; the male:female ratio was 1:4 for urticaria-angioedema and 1:2 for mastocytosis. Symptoms of mastocytosis included flushing, abdominal cramping/diarrhea, syncope, urticaria-angioedema, pruritus, and headache. Symptoms have typically been prevented by a combination of H1 and H2 antagonists, with addition of a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor in syncopal cases. Acute hypotension has responded to epinephrine.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006635:Histamine H2 Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008415:Mastocytosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013714:Tennessee
chemical_list: D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists; D006635:Histamine H2 Antagonists