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Urticaria pigmentosa

• Overview
• Symptoms
• Treatment

Alternative Names:

Mastocytosis; Mastocytoma

Treatment:

Antihistamines may relieve some of the histamine-induced symptoms such as itching and flushing. Discuss the choice of antihistamine with your child's health care provider. With more severe and unusual forms of urticaria pigmentosa, systemic symptoms should be controlled with other medications.

Expectations (prognosis):

Urticaria pigmentosa goes away by puberty in about half of the affected children. Symptoms usually decrease in the remaining patients as they grow into adulthood.

In adults, urticaria pigmentosa may progress to the more serious systemic mastocytosis.

Complications:

Discomfort from itching, and possible self-consciousness about the "spots," are the primary complications. Other problems such as diarrhea and fainting are rare.

Certain medications may trigger flares of urticaria pigmentosa. Discuss these with your doctor.

Bee stings may also cause severe allergic reactions in some patients with urticaria pigmentosa. Your doctor may advise you to carry an injectable epinephrine kit (such as EpiPen or Twinject) to be used in case of a bee sting.

Calling your health care provider:

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if your child has symptoms suggesting urticaria pigmentosa.

• Review Date: 10/23/2006
• Reviewed By: Kevin Berman, MD, PhD, Associate, Atlanta Center for Dermatologic Disease, Atlanta, GA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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