Chronic urticaria in children: expanding the "autoimmune kaleidoscope".
Most cases of chronic urticaria (CU) are considered idiopathic. It has recently been accepted that autoimmunity plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of CU in some of these patients. Although urticaria is common in the pediatric population, the knowledge regarding CU-associated autoimmunity is very limited. We describe the association of CU with a wide spectrum of clinical and laboratory autoimmune disorders in 2 children and emphasize the concept that CU is another manifestation of the "autoimmune kaleidoscope."
Dalal
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Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Edith Wolfson Medical Center, Holon 58100 Israel. roydalal@hotmail.com
Levine
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A
Somekh
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E
Mizrahi
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A
Hanukoglu
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014581:Urticaria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology