Recurrent attacks of hereditary angioedema: a case of delayed diagnosis.

Hereditary angioedema is a rare disorder, and patients frequently endure long duration of symptoms, frequent physician visits, and unnecessary procedures prior to a diagnosis. Patients with novel mutations may experience especially long delays in diagnosis due to a lack of family history. This case demonstrates one such case in which diagnosis was delayed for many years. Improved physician awareness of the signs and symptoms of hereditary angioedema may prevent such delay for patients with this disorder in the future. Abdominal pain, angioedema, bradykinin, C1 inhibitor, hereditary, inherited, swelling.