[Prevalence of food allergy in patients with urticaria-angioedema syndrome]

We have studied 239 patients, 53 males and 186 females, mean age 31.9, affected by urticaria-angioedema syndrome. Fifty-three patients didn't complete the study. One-hundred-three of the other 186 patients went on elimination diet: 111 patients suffered from chronic urticaria-angioedema syndrome and 21 subjects suffered from acute syndrome. Eighty-one out of the 132 patients obtained good results from dietetic management (p less than 0.001). Double blind challenge test was positive in 42 subjects: 29 patients suffered from Food Allergy and 13 patients from Food Intolerance. Thus, the prevalence of Food Allergy in patients who completed dietetic management was 21.9% (29 patients out of 132). If we evaluate all the 186 patients affected by urticaria-angioedema syndrome, the prevalence of Food Allergy is 15.5%.