Evaluation of the frequency of fibromyalgia in patients with chronic urticaria

Kronik ürtikerli hastalarda fibromiyalji sendromu sıklığının değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Background and Design: In recent years, there are studies about the role of dysfunctioning of the peripheral cutaneous nerve fibers in the etiology of chronic urticaria. Similarly to urticaria, dysfunctioning of peripheral cutaneous nerve fibers was also accused in the etiology of fibromyalgia syndrome which is considered to be the one of the chronic pain syndromes. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of fibromyalgia syndrome in patients with chronic urticaria and to show whether this frequency was affected by clinical findings of urticaria. Material and Method: Fifty patients with chronic urticaria and 48 controls were included into the study. The autologous serum skin test was performed and urticaria activity score (UAS) was calculated for the evaluation of the severity of the disease. The diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome was made in accordance with the American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria. The patients were divided according to disease duration into 2 groups and according to UAS into two groups. Results: 26% of patients with chronic urticaria and 20.8% of controls had fibromiyalgia syndrome and no significant difference was observed between the groups (p=0.715). There was also no significant difference between patients with positive autologous serum skin test and patients with negative autologous serum skin test. No significant difference was observed in the frequency of fibromyalgia syndrome between the patients either when divided into 2 groups according to UAS or when divided into two group according to disease duration (p=0.197 and p=0.645, respectively). Conclusion: In conclusion, in contrast to a recently reported study, we observed that the frequency of fibromyalgia syndrome was not increased in chronic urticaria and this frequency was not affected by the severity of urticaria, disease duration and positive autologous serum skin test.

Özet

Amaç: Son yıllarda periferal kutanöz sinir liflerindeki fonksiyon bozukluğunun ürtiker etyolojisinde rol oynayabileceğine dair çalışmalar mevcuttur. Kronik ağrı sendromların biri olarak kabul edilen fibromiyalji sendromu etyolojisinde de benzer şekilde periferal kutanöz sinir liflerindeki fonksiyon bozukluğu suçlanmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı kronik ürtikerli hastalarda fibromiyalji sendromu sıklığının belirlenmesi ve bu sıklığın ürtikerin klinik özelliklerinden etkilenip etkilenmediğini göstermekti. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışmaya 50 kronik ürtikerli hasta ve 48 kontrol dahil edildi. Otolog serum deri testinin yanı sıra ürtikerin hastalık aktivitesini belirlemek amacıyla ürtiker aktivite skoru (ÜAS) hesaplandı. Fibromiyalji sendromu tanısı ise 1990 Amerikan Romatoloji Koleji kriterleri doğrultusunda konuldu. Hastalar ayrıca hastalık süresine ve ÜAS skorlarına göre ikişer gruba ayrılarak fibromiyalji sendromu sıklığı açısından incelendi. Bulgular: Kronik ürtikerli hastaların %26’sında, kontrol grubunun ise %20,8’inde fibromiyalji sendromu olduğu tespit edildi ve iki grup arasında anlamlı fark saptanmadı (p=0,715). Otolog serum deri testi pozitif olan hastalar ile negatif olan hastalar arasında da fibromiyalji sendromu sıklığı açısından anlamlı farklılık yoktu. ÜAS skorlarına (Grup 1= ÜAS