News

Angioedema patients in need to emergency care — being treated at a hospital’s emergency department — most often had an attack linked to bradykinin and medications that target this inflammatory molecule, a study from Croatia reports. Such medications, called RAAS blockers, can be used to treat cardiovascular and kidney…

Activase (alteplase), a common treatment for stroke, may trigger angioedema of the mouth and tongue that can lead to a life-threatening situation if not treated promptly, a case report shows. The study, “Angioedema: A Life-threatening Complication of Tissue Plasminogen Activator,” was published in the journal…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Shire’s Cinryze (C1 esterase inhibitor [human]) to help prevent angioedema attacks in children 6 and older who live with hereditary angioedema (HAE). Cinryze was first approved in the U.S. in 2008 for routine preventive treatment against attacks in…

A study that examined three forms of angioedema suggests there are different processes contributing to the development of each disease. Researchers found that patients with angioedema of unknown cause have significantly different clinical manifestations compared to patients with hereditary angioedema caused by a genetic deficiency in the C1-inhibitor protein. The…

Researchers reported the first case of exercise-induced angioedema that is dependent on food in a new case study from Israel. The report, “A case of food-dependent exercise-induced angioedema,” appeared in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. Angioedema is a swelling of the…

Delays in the diagnosis of hereditary angioedema causes family caregivers to feel fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, according to a study focused on better understanding what these caregivers go through during the diagnosis process. Giving attention and credibility to family caregivers could not only improve understanding and awareness of the disease but…

Food may trigger angioedema attacks through an intolerance — rather than an allergic — reaction, according to a small study published in the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. In hereditary angioedema (HAE), the immune system and blood flow processes may be excessively activated, causing episodic attacks of swelling —…

Patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) show development of atherosclerosis in peripheral blood vessels during symptom-free periods, a new study reports. The research, “Impaired Endothelial Function in Hereditary Angioedema During the Symptom-Free Period,” was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. HAE is caused mainly by…

A new, highly sensitive genetic test that screens the entire SERPING1 gene is better than conventional genetic testing for diagnosing type 1 and type 2 hereditary angioedema, new research shows. Researchers now recommend this test as the first-line or as a confirmatory…

KVD900, a potential new approach for treating hereditary angioedema, prevents the breakdown of kininogen and subsequent buildup of bradykinin — the underlying cause of the disease, KalVista Pharmaceuticals announced. The company confirmed this mechanism of action using a new test that measures the amounts of high molecular weight kininogen in the plasma. The…