Plasmapheresis: Is it a potential alternative treatment for chronic urticaria?

BACKGROUND: Chronic urticaria is a common disease. Plasmapheresis is an alternative treatment that can be appropriate for patients who are resistant to treatment with 2nd generation antihistamines or for whom treatment with omalizumab is unsuitable. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of plasmapheresis treatment in chronic urticaria. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed based on the data of 98 patients suffering from refractory chronic urticaria who received plasmapheresis as an alternative treatment in Vilnius University’s Hospital Santaros Clinics from 2000 to 2020. The efficiency of the treatment was evaluated by clinical judgment. RESULTS: 58.2% of the patients exhibited a complete or significant response; of these, 37.8% had temporary relief of symptoms and 20.4% achieved disease remission; 41.8% showed no response to the plasmapheresis. Men (34.8%) had a tendency to achieve disease remission more often than women (16%) (p < 0.05). One patient did not finish the plasmapheresis treatment due to the symptoms’ exacerbation and treatment with omalizumab was initiated. CONCLUSION: Plasmapheresis is a safe and effective alternative treatment when traditional treatment is unavailable or does not relieve symptoms completely. Our data showed that plasmapheresis was effective in more than half of our patients.