title: Solar urticaria: a time-extended retrospective series of 61 patients and review of literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Solar urticaria is a rare, disabling, chronic disease. Few large series are available.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To report the epidemiological, clinical, phototesting, treatment and patient outcome data of a large series.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 61 patients' files were retrospectively retrieved in a tertiary referral centre.
  
  
  RESULTS
  43 women and 18 men were included (mean age at first symptoms: 34 y). 3 patients had a medical history of chronic urticaria and 29% of atopy. Urticaria occurred before the 15(th) minute of sun-exposure in 95% of the patients and resolved spontaneously after its interruption within 1h in 76.4%. Determination of the action spectra revealed UVA sensitization in 91.8% of the patients, alone (49.2%) or with UVB (24.6%) or visible light (14.75%). 61.7% of the patients received antihistamines, 75% noted a significant improvement. 36.2% benefited from UVA phototherapy and were satisfied. 3 patients reported complete remission after 4 to 11 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study is the second largest in the literature. Main discrepancies with previous series concern the absence of associated photodermatoses and the predominance of UVA sensitization over visible light, which could be explained by suboptimal phototesting in the most ancient cases. Interpretation of our results is restricted because data were missing in 10 to 25% of the patients' files. The response to treatment was evaluated upon the dermatologist's observation, which highlights the need of validated tools to evaluate patients' disability and response to treatment.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U1058, University of Montpellier I, Department of Dermatology, and UFR Pharmacy, Hôpital Saint-Eloi, Montpellier, France. a-du_thanh@chu-montpellier.fr
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Du-Thanh
authors.forename: Anca
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Debu
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lalheve
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guillot
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dereure
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Peyron
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006633:Histamine Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013472:Sunlight / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects; D014467:Ultraviolet Therapy; D014581:Urticaria / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006633:Histamine Antagonists
keywords: phototesting; solar urticaria