Omalizumab in children and adolescents with chronic spontaneous urticaria: Case series and review of the literature

The recent EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF/WAO guidelines recommend omalizumab (anti–IgE) for the management of patients aged ≥12 years with chronic urticaria unresponsive to high–doses second–generation H1–antihistamines (antiH1). However, there is little published information on the success of omalizumab for such a treatment in children. We reported our experience of six patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) treated with omalizumab. Mean age of our case series was 14.7 years (range 11–16 years) with a prevalence of male gender (66.7%). All six patients were treated with at least one 6–months course of omalizumab. The average follow–up period was 13 ± 6 months. Only one patient was no responder to omalizumab therapy. Thus far, two patients have experienced a complete CSU regression over 12 months after the final omalizumab administration. The remaining three patients needed a second course of treatment. Our experience demonstrates that omalizumab is effective and safe as treatment option for CSU unresponsive to antiH1, even in adolescent age.