Diagnosis of autoimmune urticaria

 

The autologous serum skin test is used as a screening test for chronic autoimmune urticaria and has a sensitivity and specificity of about 70 and 80%, respectively. The current gold standard diagnostic test is the basophil histamine release assay. NCBI

Autoimmune urticaria (AIU) cannot be diagnosed by this test alone. A study has been done showing "A simple, combined test can improve the diagnosis of autoimmune urticaria."

Researchers from Hungary’s University of Debrecen have shown a more effective testing procedure for diagnosing AIU. The combination of tests have increased the sensitivity and specificity to 98% and 86%. 

The researchers found that ASST positivity, the occurrence of symptoms at night, angioedema, incidence of more than five symptomatic days per week, and anti-thyroid antibody positivity were more frequent in the AIU group versus patients with chronic spontaneous non-AIU. These parameters were defined as specific to AIU. MD Magazine

HIVES ON BACK

Urticaria is another name for hives which are raised red marks on the skin that can occur anywhere on the body. Chronic urticaria is when the hives have been there for 6 weeks or more. This is called chronic idiopathic urticaria, which means there is no known cause. Many people with chronic idiopathic urticaria are thought to have autoimmune urticaria (AIU) where antibodies exist. 

A strong connection has been found between AIU and the existence of other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, Lupus (SLE) and celiac disease.