Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio: a possible marker of remission in children with chronic spontaneous urticaria.

BACKGROUND

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a disease that seriously disturbs the quality of life of the patient. Currently there is no prognostic marker of the disease. Our aim in this study was to determine possible prognostic markers of CSU in children.

METHOD

All patients younger than 18 years of age who were followed by the Pediatric Immunology and Allergy Clinic of Diyarbakir Children's Hospital with a diagnosis of CSU between June 2017 and February 2019 were included in the study. Clinical and laboratory findings were compared between the symptomatic patient group and the patient group that remained in remission for at least three months without use of medication.

RESULTS

Of the 52 cases included in the study, 32 (61.5%) were male. Mean age at time of diagnosis was 9.4 ± 4.4 years. Twenty-four cases (46.2%) went into remission. Young age at the time of diagnosis and being in the initial months of the disease were found to be associated with good prognosis (p < 0.05). Among laboratory results, elevation in absolute neutrophil count and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were found to be associated with poor prognosis (p < 0.05). NLR was positively correlated with disease duration (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

For childhood CSU, younger age and initial months of the disease are good prognostic indicators, while only neutrophil/lymphocyte count can be used as a remission marker.