Hereditary angioedema: Screening of first-degree blood relatives and earlier diagnosis.

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) with C1 inhibitor (C1INH) deficiency is an inherited disease characterized by sudden, recurrent episodes of edema that involve the skin, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, and other organs. Because it takes a long time from the first symptoms to diagnosis, we aimed to identify HAE in untested first-degree blood relatives among some of our patients with HAE in our outpatient clinic at Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga (HUCFF), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Untested first-degree relatives of patients with HAE C1INH, even those who were asymptomatic, were identified and invited to participate.