Urticarial vasculitis: a report of nine cases and review of the literature

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Abstract
Urticaria may be the only cutaneous manifestation of a leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Nine patients with urticarial vasculitis were studied. The spectrum ranged from limited cutaneous disease (6 cases) to severe systemic disease with renal failure (1 case). The individual urticarial lesions were of long duration (over 4 h) in all patients and in 7 cases, and ecchymotic stain was left when the urticaria resolved. All patients complained of moderate to severe pruritus. Associated findings included arthralgia (2 cases), fever (1 case) and glomerulonephritis (1 case), but none had neurological disease, abdominal pain or arthritis. Therapy was difficult in 7 patients, and these cases were controlled only with systemic corticosteroids. This disorder falls within the larger group of vasculitides. It is distinguished only by its skin lesions, which cannot always be distinguished clinically from common urticaria.