title: Natural course of physical and chronic urticaria and angioedema in 220 patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Information about spontaneous remission of chronic urticaria is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the natural course of urticaria, we followed up 220 adults in a prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were followed up for 1 to 3 years to evaluate interventions, to detect latent causes, and to study the natural course of urticaria. The diagnosis was made by detailed history-taking as well as laboratory and provocation tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-five percent of all patients were free of symptoms after 1 year. In 28.9% of patients, symptoms had decreased. Spontaneous remission occurred in 47.4% of the patients in whom no cause of their urticaria and/or angioedema could be identified and in only 16.4% of the patients with physical urticaria. A cause could be identified in 53.1% of the patients. Thirty-six percent of the patients had idiopathic urticaria. Chronic idiopathic urticaria combined with physical urticaria occurred in 10.9%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In general, the prognosis for spontaneous remission is reasonable, with the exception of the subgroup (33.2%) with physical urticaria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kozel
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mekkes
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bossuyt
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Bos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000799:Angioedema / Q000473:pathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014581:Urticaria / Q000473:pathology*