A case of chronic urticaria due to Dirofilaria infestation

Abstract

Urticaria is one of the most common dermatoallergic conditions occurring mainly in children and adolescents and in atopic individuals. The term of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) is used when the pathophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. Chronic infections and parasitic infestations have been suggested to play an important role in the etiology of CIU. In the present paper, we describe a case of chronic, apparently idiopathic urticaria in an adult woman where Dirofilaria has been recognized to play a pathogenic role in the determination of the cutaneous disease.