Opinions of Turkish hereditary angioedema patients regarding the use of C1 inhibitor concentrate in the treatment of acute attacks

Abstract

Objective: No data exists about the perceptions of Turkish hereditary angioedema patients regarding the use of C1 inhibitor concentrate that has been used in the treatment of acute attacks for the last 7 years. Our aim was to evaluate patient opinions about the C1 inhibitor (C1-inh) concentrate and determine the level of satisfaction with this drug. Materials and Methods: Fifty-seven hereditary angioedema (HAE) patients who used C1-inh concentrate for their angioedema attacks were asked to complete a questionnaire which contained various questions related to demographic information, clinical features, and experiences with C1-inh concentrate use. Results: Sixty-five % of the patients were female and 94.7% of the patients had type 1 HAE. The mean curent age and age of diagnosis were 38.11±12.6 and 29.95±13.85 years, respectively. Thirteen patients did not have a family history. Forty patients were under prophylaxis (danazol n=39, tranexamic acid= 1). The mean duration of the C1-inh concentrate usage was 4.07±1.76 years. The patients had taken this drug 6 times over the past year on average. All patients stated that they experienced difficulties during injections with this medication in the emergency units due to a lack of awareness by health care professionals regarding both HAE and C1-inh concentrate. While 61.4% of the patients reported overall satisfaction about the efficacy of drug, 43.8% stated that this medication should have a more practical application; 52.6% proposed that the drug should be more accessible in hospital emergency rooms. Conclusion: Patients with HAE generally considered that C1-inh concentrate was effective in their attacks. However, this group of patients expressed concerns related to the medical personnel's awareness about HAE as well as access to the medication.