Safety and efficacy of icatibant self-administration for acute hereditary angioedema

Abstract

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of icatibant self-administration in 15 patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) types I or III, for 55 acute attacks (mostly severe or very severe). Icatibant self-administration was generally effective: first symptom improvement occurred in 5min-2h (HAE type I; n=17) and 8min-1h (HAE type III; n=9) for abdominal attacks and 5-30min (HAE type I; n=4) and 10min-12h (HAE type III; n=6) for laryngeal attacks. Complete symptom resolution occurred in 15min-19h (HAE type I; n=8) and 15min-48h (HAE type III; n=9) for abdominal attacks and 5-48h (HAE type I; n=3) and 8-48h (HAE type III; n=5) for laryngeal attacks. No patient required emergency hospitalization. The only adverse events were mild, spontaneously resolving injection site reactions. Patients reported that carrying icatibant with them gave them greater confidence in managing their condition. © 2012 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Immunology © 2012 British Society for Immunology.