THE ASSOCIATION OF CHRONIC URTICARIA AND ANGIOEDEMA WITH AUTOIMMUNE-THYROIDITIS

Background An increased frequency of autoimmune thyroiditis is seen in patients with chronic urticaria and angioedema (CUA) and it has been hypothesized that autoimmunity may be playing a role in the pathogenes is of CUA. The aim of this study was to learn the extent of autoimmune thyroid disease in a series of patients who presented with CUA. Metho ds Thyroid function tests and thyroid autoantibodies were measured by radioimmunoassay and immunoradiometric assay respectively in 94 CUA pa tients and 80 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Results Eleven patients (11.7%) were found to have thyroglobulin antibodies (TGA) and nine patients (9.57%) thyroid microsomal (TMA) titers ranging from 15 0 to 1340.37 and from 165.73 to 8000 IU/mL respectively Both antibodie s were detected in three control cases (3.7%). The association was sta tistically significant (P < 0.01). Six of 11 patients had thyroid dysf unction and the other five cases were euthyroid. Conclusions Our resul ts justified the use of TMA and TGA for the early diagnosis of autoimm une thyroiditis in combination with CUA. The higher frequency of these antibodies in our patients, along with results from previously publis hed data, suggest that this entity may reflect an autoimmune basis in some CUA patients. Thyroid function tests are not enough to rule out t hyroid disease, and thyroid antibody tests should be carried out in al l patients with CUA.