Kronik ürtikerli olgularımızın etyolojik değerlendirm.

Background and Design: The etiology of chronic urticaria (CU) in childhood remains incompletely understood because of limited data. In this study, we aimed to examine possible etiologies of CU in children. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 67 children who attended our clinic and were diagnosed with CU between January 2001 and July 2012. We investigated the etiological factors contributing to chronic urticaria, such as autoimmune disorders, malignancies and infections. Data were presented as mean±standard deviation (SD) and percentage (%). The comparisons between two groups were conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Sixty-seven children who met the criteria for CU were included in the study. Male/female ratio was 0.5 and the mean age at onset of symptoms was 10.2±4.6 (range: 1-17) years. In 7% of patients, ANA titers were over 1/100. None of the patients had clinical features of a rheumatic disease, 13.7% of the subjects were positive for thyroid autoantibody. All of them were diagnosed with thyroiditis and received L-thyroxine treatment. Autologous serum skin test was positive in 42.8% of the patients (n=28). Conclusion: In children, infections and foods did not appear to be important causative factors for CU. As in adults, the etiology of CU in children is mainly related to autoreactive processes. This result is similar to that in previous studies done in Turkish children with CU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]