• Ruy Felippe Brito Gonçalves Missaka, Henrique Costa Penatti, Maria Regina Cavariani Silvares, Célia Regina Nogueira, and Gláucia Maria Ferreira da Silva Mazeto.
• Department of Dermatology and Radiotherapy, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2012 Jan 1; 130 (5): 294298294-8.

Context And ObjectiveAn association between chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) and autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) has been reported. However, there have not been any reports on whether ATD raises the risk of angioedema, which is a more severe clinical presentation of CIU. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the risk of angioedema is increased in patients with CIU and ATD.Design And SettingCase-control study including 115 patients with CIU at a tertiary public institution.MethodsThe patients were evaluated with regard to occurrence of angioedema and presence of ATD, hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.ResultsAngioedema was detected in 70 patients (60.9%). There were 22 cases (19.1%) of ATD, 19 (16.5%) of hypothyroidism and nine (7.8%) of hyperthyroidism. The risk among patients with ATD was 16.2 times greater than among those without this thyroid abnormality (confidence interval, CI = 2.07-126.86). The odds ratio for hypothyroidism was 4.6 (CI = 1.00-21.54) and, for hyperthyroidism, 3.3 (CI = 0.38-28.36).ConclusionsPatients with CIU and ATD presented greater risk of angioedema, which reinforces the idea that a relationship exists between this allergic condition and thyroid autoimmunity. This finding could imply that such patients require specifically directed therapy.

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