Hereditary Angioedema Patients Report: C1-Esterase Inhibitor Concentrate Effective in Treating Acute Attacks, Helps Them Avoid Emer...( MIAMI BEACH Fla. Nov. 7 /- Patients r...),Health

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients reported C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) concentrate is an effective therapy in treating acute swelling attacks at any body location for HAE, a rare and serious genetic disorder, according to data presented today at the 2009 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Meeting. The results come from a self-reported survey of patients conducted in parallel with the ongoing, prospective, open label International Multi-center Prospective Angioedema C1-Inhibitor Trial (I.M.P.A.C.T. 2) for C1-INH concentrate. Of the patients surveyed, 98.3 percent reported satisfaction with the treatment, with 37 percent responding that without C1-INH they would have sought emergency treatment and 43 percent would have deferred any medical therapy.

Twenty-eight patients participated in the self-reported survey with responses collected via home computer or telephone voice response. Before the study, these patients reported an annual average of three emergency room visits and four hospital days due to acute attacks. Over 29 months, participants reported 384 attacks (261 abdominal, 71 extremities, eight facial, six genitourinary, 17 laryngeal, and 21 other) with a median of three per patient. C1-INH was used to treat approximately 71 percent of reported attacks. From the start of the attack to C1-INH dosing, the mean time was 12.1 hours (ranging from 0.0 to 189.8 hours) and the mean time from start of treatment to onset of symptom relief was 1.07 hours (ranging from 0.0 to 25.3 hours). The mean time to complete resolution was 18.4 hours (ranging from 1.22 to 471.7 hours).

"Recognizing an acute attack in its early stages is vital in successfully managing the disease," said Robyn J. Levy, M.D., of the Family Allergy & Asthma Center in Atlanta, GA, and the lead investigator of the study. "This survey shows that patients found C1-INH replac
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