Chronic urticaria: humoral and clinical diagnosis of its morphological variables.

Thirty adult patients with a diagnosis of chronic urticaria were attended as outpatients at the Allergology Service, Clinical Surgical Hospital "Hnos. Ameijeiras". An accurate clinical history was made, humoral parameters such as erythrosedimentation, total eosinophil count, serum levels of immunoglobulins and complement fractions were measured, and a skin biopsy was done. Most of the patients with urticarial vasculitis showed almost permanent papulous reactions with fever and arthralgias. Duodenal smear was positive for Giardia lamblia in a high percentage of patients with urticarial vasculitis. Paraffin-embedded skin biopsy was very useful for measuring morphological variables, and it is recommended that this technique be used in recent reactions (< 24 h evolution).