Department of Medical Genetics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
Urticaria in response to various physical stimuli has been reported in sporadic and familial patterns. The most common of these physical urticarias, dermographism, is a localized urticarial response to stroking or scratching of the skin and has not been reported previously to be familial. A four-generation family with dermographism, probably inherited as an autosomal dominant trait, is presented along with a discussion of sporadic dermographism and other types of familial physical urticarias.