Severity of acute and chronic urticaria correlates with D-dimer level, but not C-reactive protein or total IgE.

BACKGROUND: Although various scoring systems for measuring urticaria severity have been introduced, most rely on subjective criteria. Therefore, additional objective criteria such as laboratory markers would be helpful adjuncts in making this assessment.

AIM: To evaluate the usefulness of three laboratory markers [D-dimer, C-reactive protein (CRP), and total IgE] in assessing disease severity of both acute urticaria (AU) and chronic urticaria (CU).

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 94 patients with urticaria. Correlations between the aforementioned laboratory markers and the Urticaria Activity Score (UAS) were calculated.

RESULTS: A substantial proportion of patients with urticaria (acute 43.5%; chronic 39.6%) had an increased D-dimer level. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between D-dimer level and UAS (AU r = 0.60, P < 0.001; CU r = 0.37, P < 0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between UAS and either CRP or total IgE.

CONCLUSIONS: D-dimer level could be used as a marker of disease severity for both AU and CU. However, CRP and total IgE are not as reliable in predicting disease severity.