Efficacy and Safety of Autologous Serum Therapy in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria in the Pediatric Population: A Prospective Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) in children is mostly spontaneous in onset (57%). Treatment comprises long-term antihistaminic therapy without need for elaborate investigations. A subset of such patients don’t respond to conventional treatment and novel therapies to help reduce pill burden is the need of the hour. OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy and safety of autologous serum therapy (AST) in pediatric patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All pediatric patients, aged between 6-16 years, attended to our OPD from March 2019 to March 2020 were recruited. Clinico-demographic data and baseline investigations of all patients were performed. Two-weekly AST therapy was given for 8 visits with levocetrizine tablet 5mg on an on-demand basis. Urticaria activity score (UAS) sheet was provided to record and return every 2 weeks. Statistical analysis was done using the IBM SPSS 26 software package. RESULTS: Autologous serum skin test (ASST) was positive in 63% patients. Both the ASST positive and ASST negative group showed significant reduction in UAS7 score at week 14 compared to baseline. The reduction in mean UAS7 score was associated with a decreased pill burden and positive response in the patient and physician global assessment scale. No statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean UAS7 reduction was found. CONCLUSION: This study has explored the efficacy and safety of autologous serum therapy in the pediatric CSU patients. Both ASST positive and ASST negative group respond to AST therapy.