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ALBANIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENTUrticaria in our clinic during a period from January2012-December 2012Antigona Begolli Gerqari 1 , Mybera Ferizi 1 , Sadije Halimi 1 , Afërdita Daka 1 ,Ilir Begolli 21Dermato-Venerology Clinic, University Clinical Center, Pristine, Kosovo;2National Institute of Public Health, Pristine, Kosovo.Aim: Urticaria affects about 15%-20% of thepopulation in Kosovo. The main cause of thiscondition is still unknown, although food proteinand several drugs are considered as putative riskfactors for urticaria. In some cases, urticaria may bea warning sign of selected autoimmune diseases ofthe thyroid gland, malignant diseases, and systemicdiseases. The aim of our study was to describe theprevalence of urticaria referred to our clinic fromJanuary to December 2012.Methods: This study presents results of aretrospective study of male patients referred to theClinic of Dermato-Venerology in Pristine sufferingfrom different forms of urticaria during 2012. Theage of the patients was 18 years and older. Dataon potential risk factors for urticaria (food and drugs)were included in this study.Results: We had 196 hospitalized male patients in ourclinic during 2012. Based on our records, urticaria waspresent in 33 cases (17%). Thirty patients had acute urticaria(90%), whereas 3 (11%) patients had urticaria recidivans.In 85% of the cases we identified the following riskfactors for urticaria: 60% were food-related, 25% weredrug-related, whereas for the remaining 25% of the casesthe cause of the disease was unknown.Conclusion: Acute urticaria was quite prevalent in thismale population in Pristina, the capital cityof Kosovo.Our findings indicate that the main cause of urticariainvolved food proteins (60%) followed by drug use(25%).Keywords: Dermato-Venerology, Pristine, urticaria.32 ALBANIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT