Omalizumab markedly improves urticaria activity scores and quality of life scores in chronic spontaneous urticaria patients: A real life survey

Abstract

Treatment of chronic urticaria consists of antihistamines as the first-line treatment. For more severe symptoms, combinations can be necessary as well as dose augmentations. The recent guidelines suggest the possibility of using omalizumab in resistant cases, but this therapy is still investigational. We treated two patients with idiopathic recurrent angioedema and 12 patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) with omalizumab, who had not benefited from the recommended first-line, second-line and third-line treatments. To evaluate the efficacy of the omalizumab treatment, urticaria activity scores (UAS) and chronic urticaria quality of life (CU-Q2oL) scores were measured at baseline, and at the end of the first and sixth month of the therapy. The dosage and intervals of omalizumab therapy were determined according to the rules suggested for severe asthma treatment. CU-Q2oL scores and UAS displayed significant improvements in all 14 patients. None of the patients reported any adverse effect during the treatment until the submission of this data. Our results show that omalizumab apparently improves CU-Q2oL as well as UAS in treatment-resistant CSU in a real life setting.

The impact of omalizumab on quality of life and its predictors in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria: Real‐life data

“…The relatively smaller change in DLQI‐total score might be explained with the shorter follow‐up period (3 vs. 6 months) and lower baseline DLQI‐total scores (12.1 vs. 23.1) in the present study. Consistently with our findings, two previous studies including 14 and 18 patients have reported a significant decrease in CU‐Q2oL‐total scores which was maintained up to 6 months (Büyüköztürk et al, ; Larrea‐Baca & Gurpegui‐Resano, ). Accordingly with the present study, in a recent prospective study of 117 patients, a DLQI‐total score of 0/1, that indicates no effect on patients' life, has been obtained in 35.8% of the patients at third month (Ghazanfar, Holm, & Thomsen, ).…”

Omalizumab for the Treatment of Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria: Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Four years later, a Turkish case series of 12 patients with CSU and two with idiopathic recurrent angioedema (IRA) was published . These patients did not benefit from the recommended first‐, second‐, and third‐line treatments.…”

Global burden of urticaria: Insights from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease Study

“…Despite the limitations, the GBD data offer a solid base for further studies to build upon. Targeted therapy (anti-IgE) for urticaria has a potential to decreased overall morbidity associated with the disease 5 . The data presented in this study highlight the variation in burden of disease by geography, sex, and age, which can be used to guide further research on targeted therapies, especially for populations heavily affected by urticaria.…”