News

The mother of a 28-year old pregnant woman suspected her daughter had hereditary angioedema after doing an internet search while the daughter was hospitalized. The diagnosis was quickly dismissed by clinicians, who considered it extremely unlikely, but it later proved to be correct. This case report highlights the importance of…

Angioedema seems to predict poorer responses and lower chances of remission in chronic urticaria patients receiving Xolair (omalizumab), a retrospective study shows. The study, “Angioedema is an unfavorable factor for the response to omalizumab in chronic spontaneous urticaria: a retrospective study,” was published in the journal…

Valsartan, a medication used to treat high blood pressure, caused angioedema in the neck and face of a patient who was receiving surgery on his lower back, a Jordanian case report shows. The study, “Intraoperative angioedema induced by angiotensin II receptor blocker: a case report,” was published in…

Half a year has gone by since disgraced pharma executive Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for securities and wire fraud while heading San Diego-based Retrophin. As founder and CEO of another company (then known as Turing Pharmaceuticals), in late 2015 Shkreli bought the rights to…

Deletion mutations in the SERPING1 gene lead to lower function levels of the C1 inhibitor protein, which, in turn, might have a negative impact on the progression and severity of hereditary angioedema (HAE), a study reveals. The study, “Deletions in SERPING1 Lead to Lower C1 Inhibitor Function:…

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) can present itself as a sudden and severe abdominal pain, even in the absence of other typical symptoms, such as swelling in the skin and mucosal linings, a case study from Japan has found. According to the authors, physicians should not overlook these uncharacteristic symptoms and…

Researchers from University of Chicago Medicine reported the case of a patient who developed orolingual angioedema after the administration of alteplase (sold under the brand name Activase), and suggest how physicians should proceed in case of an emergency. The study, “A Case Report of Unilateral Orolingual Angioedema…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected Pharming’s request to expand the label of Ruconest (conestat alfa) to include routine prevention of swelling attacks caused by hereditary angioedema (HAE). In a complete response letter indicating it had finished its review of the company’s supplemental biologics…

More than 700 medical experts, pharmaceutical executives, patient advocates, and others are expected to converge on Washington, D.C., next month for the 2018 NORD Rare Diseases & Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit. The Oct. 15-16 event, sponsored by the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD), takes place at the…

Medications that lower cholesterol levels, collectively known as statins, can in rare instances trigger angioedema episodes that are self-resolving if the patients stops using the statin, a case study reports. The study describes a side effect of Crestor (rosuvastatin), but its researchers caution that other, chemically-related statins could also…