Localized Heat Urticaria from 95-GHz Millimeter Waves

INTRODUCTION: Local heat urticaria is a physical urticaria caused by the environmental stimulus of heat. Typically, the resultant lesion, a wheal, is pruritic (itches) and is sometimes accompanied by a burning sensation. It is a self-limited phenomenon that resolves after 1.5–2 h. The prevalence of local heat urticaria in the general population has been estimated as 1 in 200,000 persons.CASE REPORT: The subject, a 39-yr-old active duty man, participated in a test of a 95-GHz energy beam designed to heat the skin. He had delayed presentation of raised, erythematous, nonpruritic, nonpainful areas at five of the exposure sites where the skin temperature exceeded 54°C. All wheals resolved within 2 h of the exposures.Gibbons JA. Localized heat urticaria from 95-GHz millimeter waves. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(6):586–588.