Angioödem - Ten Questions

Do you suffer from recurrent swellings? 10 questions that can save lives.

Angioedema is a swelling of the deeper skin layers and/or the mucous membranes that disappears completely after a few hours or at the latest after a few days. Depending on the location, the swellings can be cosmetically or functionally impairing, painful or even life-threatening. Recurrent angioedema can be caused by various diseases. It is important to determine the exact cause, as treatment will depend on it. Our questionnaire below contains 10 questions that will help you make the right diagnosis. The actual and final diagnosis must be made by your doctor.

Do you (or did you so in the last 6 months) take an ACE inhibitor?

(ACE-inhibitors are drugs to treat heart or kidney diseases (e.g. high blood pressure) and their active substances are named with the ending -pril, e.g. captopril, ramipril, or enalapril).

Yes

Do you take (or did you so in the last 6 months) a sartan or a gliptin?

(Sartans are drugs to treat heart diseases (e.g. high blood pressure) and their active substances are named with the ending -sartan, e.g. candesartan, losartan, or valsartan. Gliptins are drugs to treat diabetes and their active substances are named with the ending -gliptin, e.g. sitagliptin, saxagliptin, or linagliptin).

Yes

At what age (approximately) did the angioedema symptoms start?

(Angioedema are usually skin colored, mostly hard to delimit, sometimes painful swelling of the skin or mucous membranes, for example of the eyelids, lips, tongue, hands or feet. In some patients, angioedema can occur in the abdominal organs, leading to colicky pain, sometimes including vomiting or diarrhea. In other patients, angioedema can occur in the throat, leading to breathing difficulties. All these forms of angioedema can last for several hours to days)

Age in Years

Do or did any other family members (related by blood) suffer also from recurrent angioedema?

Yes

Do or did you experience repeatedly symptoms other than angioedema (e.g. fatigue, malaise, non-itchy skin rashes) approximately one hour or longer before the actual angioedema symptoms start?

Yes

Do or did you experience repeatedly severe and extremely painful abdominal attacks?

Yes

Did most of the swellings in the past affect the tongue?

Yes

Did or do the swellings often last for 3 days or longer, until they resolve completely?

Yes

Do or did you suffer from recurrent itchy wheals?

(Wheals are elevated, red and itchy skin eruptions that look like stinging nettle burns, see below for an example)

Picture of a wheal. Wheals can be smaller or larger, too

Yes

Are your symptoms of angioedema well controlled by the use of antihistamines, cortisone or omalizumab?

(Antihistamines are antiallergic tablets, e.g. loratadine or cetirizine. Omalizumab (Xolair) is an every-4-weeks-injection for the treatment of chronic urticaria)

Yes