Clinical features of patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria associated with autoimmune thyroiditis.

The aim of the study was to focus on children with both chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) as this topic is rarely studied in children although some publications show a higher proportion of antithyroid antibodies in children with CSU. We highlight two cases of children with both CSU and AT and compare their data with reports from the literature. Since only case reports or case series were available, we performed a descriptive analysis of 15 patients. There were 7 (46.7%) cases of hypothyroidism and the rest were euthyroid. Hypothyroidism appears before, during, and after the diagnostic of CSU. One patient with hypothyroidism and one with euthyroidism receiving l-thyroxine experienced remission of urticaria. Three patients over 12 years of age (20%) received omalizumab. Three patients (20%) had another autoimmune disease and seven (58.3%) had a family history of thyroid disease or autoimmune disease.

CONCLUSION

Children with CSU need repeated testing for antithyroid antibodies. Children with both CSU and AT require close medical supervision focused on the development of other autoimmune diseases. l-thyroxine may improve urticaria in patients with hypothyroidism, but there is not enough evidence for patients with euthyroidism. Omalizumab may be of benefit in this population but well-controlled studies in children with AT and CSU are needed.