Background: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common debilitating condition. Although not completely understood, the main pathomechanism involves autoimmune-related mast-cell degranulation. Patch test (PT) is the gold standard for the diagnosis of type IV cutaneous hypersensitivity. The relevance of PT to the diagnosis of CSU is debatable.
Objective: We aimed at determining the role of PT in selected patients with CSU.
Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed cases of patients referred for patch testing at our clinic. We compared results of patients with CSU (n = 134) and patients with suspected allergic contact dermatitis (n = 680; control group).
Results: Among patients in the CSU group, 3% of patients had relevant reactions to PT, indicating that contact allergen avoidance resulted in resolution of all skin findings. Metals and textile dyes were the most relevant allergens. No significant differences were found between the groups with regard to the percentage of patients with positive PT and hapten reaction profiles. Patients from the CSU group were significantly older (4.1 years on average, P < 0.05), consisted of more females, and were less likely to have atopic trait (46% vs 58%, P< 0.05).
Conclusion: In some of patients, PT may assist in determining the cause of CSU.



中文翻译：

---

斑贴试验在慢性自发性荨麻疹中的作用

背景：慢性自发性荨麻疹（CSU）是一种常见的使人衰弱的疾病。虽然尚未完全了解，但主要的病理机制涉及自身免疫相关的肥大细胞脱颗粒。斑贴试验 (PT) 是诊断 IV 型皮肤超敏反应的金标准。PT 与 CSU 诊断的相关性是有争议的。
目的：我们旨在确定 PT 在选定的 CSU 患者中的作用。
方法：在这项回顾性研究中，我们回顾了在我们诊所转诊进行斑贴测试的患者病例。我们比较了 CSU 患者（n = 134）和疑似过敏性接触性皮炎患者（n = 680；对照组）的结果。
结果：在 CSU 组的患者中，3% 的患者对 PT 有相关反应，这表明避免接触性过敏原导致所有皮肤发现均得到解决。金属和纺织染料是最相关的过敏原。两组之间在 PT 和半抗原反应阳性患者的百分比方面没有发现显着差异。CSU 组的患者年龄明显更大（平均 4.1 岁，P < 0.05），女性较多，并且不太可能有特应性特征（46% 对 58%，P < 0.05）。
结论：在部分患者中，PT 可能有助于确定 CSU 的病因。