Cold urticaria. Clinical findings in 220 patients.

Patients with cold urticaria, a total of 220, were studied in Finland. Sixty-three percent of the patients were female. The diagnosis was based on a positive ice cube test in 90% of cases, and the other cold tests were needed to certify the diagnosis for the remainder of patients. The mean age at the onset of the disease was 25.1 years (range, 1-74), and the mean duration of symptoms was 6.3 years (range, 3 weeks to 37 years). Cold urticaria symptoms had disappeared in fifty-three patients (24%), but there was a recurrence of the disease in twelve. Idiopathic (primary acquired) cold urticaria was present in 96% of the patients. Only two patients had a secondary acquired cold urticaria. Two patients had cold-induced, "cholinergic" urticaria, and four patients had a delayed type of cold urticaria. Twenty-one percent of the patients had dermatographism, 8% had cholinergic urticaria, and two patients (1%) had heat urticaria concurrently with cold urticaria.