The international WAO/EAACI guideline for the management of hereditary angioedema—The 2021 revision and update

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare and disabling disease for which early diagnosis and effective therapy are critical. This revision and update of the global WAO/EAACI guideline on the diagnosis and management of HAE provides up-to-date guidance for the management of HAE. For this update and revision of the guideline, an international panel of experts reviewed the existing evidence, developed 28 recommendations, and established consensus by an online DELPHI process. The goal of these recommendations and guideline is to help physicians and their patients in making rational decisions in the management of HAE with deficient C1 inhibitor (type 1) and HAE with dysfunctional C1 inhibitor (type 2), by providing guidance on common and important clinical issues, such as: (1) How should HAE be diagnosed? (2) When should HAE patients receive prophylactic on top of on-demand treatment and what treatments should be used? (3) What are the goals of treatment? (4) Should HAE management be different for special HAE patient groups such as children or pregnant/breast-feeding women? and (5) How should HAE patients monitor their disease activity, impact, and control? It is also the intention of this guideline to help establish global standards for the management of HAE and to encourage and facilitate the use of recommended diagnostics and therapies for all patients

The international WAO/EAACI guideline for the management of hereditary angioedema - The 2021 revision and update.

Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) is a rare and disabling disease for which early diagnosis and effective therapy are critical. This revision and update of the global WAO/EAACI guideline on the diagnosis and management of HAE provides up-to-date guidance for the management of HAE. For this update and revision of the guideline, an international panel of experts reviewed the existing evidence, developed 28 recommendations, and established consensus by an online DELPHI process. The goal of these recommendations and guideline is to help physicians and their patients in making rational decisions in the management of HAE with deficient C1-inhibitor (type 1) and HAE with dysfunctional C1-inhibitor (type 2), by providing guidance on common and important clinical issues, such as: 1) How should HAE be diagnosed? 2) When should HAE patients receive prophylactic on top of on-demand treatment and what treatments should be used? 3) What are the goals of treatment? 4) Should HAE management be different for special HAE patient groups such as children or pregnant/breast feeding women? 5) How should HAE patients monitor their disease activity, impact, and control? It is also the intention of this guideline to help establish global standards for the management of HAE and to encourage and facilitate the use of recommended diagnostics and therapies for all patients

The international WAO/EAACI guideline for the management of hereditary angioedema – the 2017 revision and update

Abstract Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) is a rare and disabling disease. Early diagnosis and appropriate therapy are essential. This update and revision of the global guideline for HAE provides up-to-date consensus recommendations for the management of HAE. In the development of this update and revision of the guideline, an international expert panel reviewed the existing evidence and developed 20 recommendations that were discussed, finalized and consented during the guideline consensus conference in June 2016 in Vienna. The final version of this update and revision of the guideline incorporates the contributions of a board of expert reviewers and the endorsing societies. The goal of this guideline update and revision is to provide clinicians and their patients with guidance that will assist them in making rational decisions in the management of HAE with deficient C1-inhibitor (type 1) and HAE with dysfunctional C1-inhibitor (type 2). The key clinical questions covered by these recommendations are: 1) How should HAE-1/2 be defined and classified?, 2) How should HAE-1/2 be diagnosed?, 3) Should HAE-1/2 patients receive prophylactic and/or on-demand treatment and what treatment options should be used?, 4) Should HAE-1/2 management be different for special HAE-1/2 patient groups such as pregnant/lactating women or children?, and 5) Should HAE-1/2 management incorporate self-administration of therapies and patient support measures? This article is co-published with permission in Allergy and the World Allergy Organization Journal

Timing of infections in patients with primary immunodeficiencies treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg)

Abstract Purpose Patients with common variable immune deficiency and X-linked agammaglobulinemia are unable to produce their own antibodies thus leading to a higher incidence of recurrent infections, particularly those involving the sinuses and lungs. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy aims to reduce the incidence of infections; however, as serum IgG approaches its trough during the third and fourth week after infusion, we hypothesized that the rate of infection would be higher during this time period. Methods Patients with a diagnosis of either common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) or X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) were analyzed in a prospective cohort study. Data was obtained as to the timing of symptom onset post infusion, the type of infection, as well as timing of the initiation of antibiotics. Descriptive analyses were conducted to explore the patterns of the data at each month and then over the course of the study year. Results Twenty-three patients with a diagnosis of either CVID (n = 22), or XLA (n = 1) were enrolled with a mean follow duration of 11.3 months. The mean number of days to infection after IVIg infusion, the primary endpoint, was 17.0 days with the most common infections reported as sinusitis and upper respiratory tract infections. There was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.70) in the rates of infection when considering the weeks post-infusion. Conclusions We believe that this pilot study is the first reported prospective study to examine the timing of infections after IVIg infusion in individuals with CVID and XLA. Further multi-centered research with a larger sample size is required into the comparison of infection rates in primary immunodeficiency patients treated with IVIg versus subcutaneous immunoglobulin therapy, where serum IgG levels remain at steady state

Monitoring patients with uncomplicated common variable immunodeficiency: a systematic review

Abstract Background Non-infectious complications have become a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID). The monitoring of patients with CVID prior to the development of non-infectious complications is not well defined. Objective Our objectives were to systematically review the current literature on the monitoring of CVID patients without non-infectious complications and to develop recommendations for such monitoring. Methods MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched from January 1st, 2000 to March 25th, 2021. Studies on any aspects of CVID monitoring were included. Studies that included only children, on monitoring CVID patients with existing non-infectious complications, or in the format of case reports were excluded. Results Nine studies on CVID monitoring, including 3 cohort studies, 3 experts’ opinions, 2 consensus statements and a single guideline report were identified. These studies revealed that clinical assessment and bloodwork were preformed every 6 to 12 months in asymptomatic patients. Some centers performed computerized tomography scan of the chest every 2–5 years to identify chronic lung disease, although the majority did chest imaging in accordance with clinical indications. Pulmonary function tests were done annually at most centers. Most studies did not address the role of abdominal imaging to screen for liver diseases or endoscopy to screen for gastric cancer in asymptomatic patients with uncomplicated CVID. Conclusions There is paucity of evidence-based information to guide the routine monitoring of CVID patients without non-infectious complications. Prospective studies are needed to determine the best monitoring practices in this group of patients