Angioedema (AE),
also known in the past as angioneurotic edema or Quincke's edema,
is a transient edema which occurs in irregular intervals. Target
organs are the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and the glottis or
larynx. Much less commonly, other soft tissue organs are affected.
It is important to know that the clinical symptom angioedema can
be part of several different disease entities.
By far the
most common type is angioedema as a part or an equivalent of
urticaria. Urticaria-associated angioedema obviously has the same
pathomechanisms as urticaria. Angioedema may occur simultaneously
or alternately with urticaria. The main mediator of this type of
angioedema probably is histamine, as in urticaria.
Completely
different in terms of pathogenesis, clinical picture and
treatment are recurrent forms of angioedema due to a hereditary
or acquired C1-inhibitor deficiency. Kinins, mainly bradykinin,
probably play a significant role in the development of these
types of angioedema. The different forms of angioedema should not
be confused with each other as the treatment for a laryngeal
edema may differ in important respects. A further, also
significant type of angioedema is the type caused by ACE
inhibitors.
