Urticaria as a cutaneous sign of adult-onset Still's disease.

Background: The cardinal signs and symptoms of adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) include periodic fever, arthralgia and arthritis, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, an evanescent rash accompanied by neutrophilic granulocytosis, and a negative rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibody test.

Objective: To alert clinicians and dermatologists to internal diseases such as AOSD when assisting patients with urticarial eruptions and systemic symptoms.

Methods: A case report of a 52-year-old white woman who received conventional therapy for urticaria for 3 years, with no improvement. Following this period, a diagnosis of AOSD was performed based on the presence of systemic symptoms.

Results: The inflammatory activity markers decreased by the second month of methotrexate therapy; however, the cutaneous lesions failed to disappear. Thalidomide was initiated, and total improvement of the cutaneous lesions was observed after 2 weeks.

Conclusions: Urticarial rash is an uncommon presentation of AOSD, and clinicians must be alert to the possibility of a misdiagnosis in these cases.