Abstract: Objective To investigate and compare the effect and safety of levocetirizine and cetirizine for the treatment of chronic idiopathetic urticaria (CIU). Methods A multi-center, randomized and double-blind comparative clinical trial was employed. The patients with CIU were divided into levocetirizine group and cetirizine group. Levocetirizine (5mg/day) or cetirizine (10mg/day) were taken once daily for 28 days, and were followed up on the 7th day, 14th day and 28th day after starting treatment. Results One hundred and thirty cases were evaluable for the effect and safety at the end of the study. The effective rates in levocetirizine group and in cetirizine group were 73.44% and 77.27% on the 7th day after treatment, 82.81% and 81.82% on the 14th day, and 89.06% and 81.82% at the end of the therapy respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups. The drug adverse reaction for levocetirizine group and cetirizine group were 14.06% and 18.18% respectively, which include mouth dryness, dizziness etc. Conclusion Levocetirizine is an effective and safe agent for the treatment of CIU.

Key words: Hydroxyzine, Urticaria, Randomized controlled trials