Abstract
Hereditary angioedema is a rare disease with autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. Recurrent edemas of different parts of the body including respiratory tract are common manifestation of this condition.
Edemas may be life-threatening and require quick and adequate treatment. Recent advances of our knowledge in the disease pathogenesis allowed a development of new drugs used for acute attacks treatment.
Hereditary angioedema is caused by an absence of C1 inhibitor or its dysfunction. This situation leads to an uncontrolled activation of various proteins and increases production of bradykinin.
According to a current state of knowledge about hereditary angioedema pathogenesis, bradykinin seems to be the most important factor in edema formation.