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Younger individuals with familial angioedema face higher venous thromboembolism risk

Medical News 1 min 94

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Created On: 13/02/2025

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Hereditary angioedema may be a rare thrombophilia (abnormality of blood coagulation), underscoring the need for clinicians to include it in VTE risk assessments and management.

First-of-its-kind Swedish study explored the familial risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hereditary angioedema (HAE) patients and revealed that individuals with HAE face a substantially higher risk of VTE, particularly younger and middle-aged adults. HAE is an uncommon condition caused by C1 inhibitor protein deficiency. The data from over 2000 individuals across 276 families with a confirmed diagnosis of HAE, showed that 9.6% of these patients experienced VTE, compared to just 4.1% of their non-HAE relatives.

The risk of VTE for HAE patients was more than two and a half times higher than for those without the condition. Furthermore, the study investigators found that HAE patients developed VTE at a younger age, with a mean age of 51 years, compared to 63 years for their relatives. The study also highlighted that those born after 1964 had an even greater risk, with a hazard ratio of 8.29, suggesting a growing association in recent generations.