Cetirizine: a new therapeutic alternative for chronic urticaria.

Chronic urticaria represents a cutaneous reaction pattern that may last for slightly more than six weeks to more than five years. Treatment of patients with chronic urticaria can be a problem for both physician and patient because of the significant side effects that may be caused by first-generation H1 antihistamines or long-term corticosteroid therapy. Newer antihistamines represent a major advance for the treatment of patients with chronic urticaria. Of this group, cetirizine appears to offer some distinct pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic advantages. An open-label multicenter trial of 217 patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria demonstrated that cetirizine was effective, rapid in onset, and well tolerated. Thus, cetirizine was shown to be an attractive alternative treatment for patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria.