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Urticaria Guidelines: Consensus and Controversies in the European and American Guidelines

  • Allergic Skin Diseases (L Fonacier, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Urticaria can present acutely and be self-limiting or become chronic and persist for weeks, months, or years. In either case, the condition may have a significant impact on the patient’s quality of life. Two major consensus groups, the EAACI/WAO and the AAAAI/ACAAI Joint Task Force, have written guidelines on the diagnosis and management of urticaria. While both agree on most points regarding the definition, general evaluation, and treatment, there are some differences which exist. The guidelines, which are written to assist both primary practitioners and specialists in managing their patients with urticaria, have been developed based on scientific evidence, and when insufficient evidence is available, then recommendations are based on expert consensus opinion. The majority of the differences between the two guidelines pertain to recommendations based on expert opinion because of weak scientific evidence. Within this document, we compare the recommendations of these two groups, highlighting the key similarities and differences.

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Conflict of Interest

Jonathan A. Bernstein reports speaker fees from Genentech and clinical trial and IIS grants from Genentech/Novartis. Lauren M. Fine declares no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1450 NW 10th Ave Suite 1101, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Lauren M. Fine

  2. Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, 231 Albert Sabin Way, ML#563, Cincinnati, OH, 45267-0563, USA

    Jonathan A. Bernstein

  3. Division of Immunology/Allergy Section, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, 231 Albert Sabin Way, ML#563, Cincinnati, OH, 45267-0563, USA

    Jonathan A. Bernstein

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  1. Lauren M. Fine
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Correspondence to Jonathan A. Bernstein.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Allergic Skin Diseases

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Fine, L.M., Bernstein, J.A. Urticaria Guidelines: Consensus and Controversies in the European and American Guidelines. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 15, 30 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-015-0535-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-015-0535-z

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