Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is not necessarily the most common of illnesses but when it occurs, it can be devastating for a child and in turn their family to deal with. Fortunately 11 members of an appointed Medical Advisory Board (MAB) focused on dealing with this illness and who have pediatric expertise have gotten together, reviewed the world’s literature on recognition, diagnosis and treatment of HAE, and offer a set of consensus recommendations that are long-awaited and will be helpful to all of us.
While the AAP has not specifically focused their policy efforts on this disorder due to its relative rarity, (and thus these recommendations are not ones appearing in the AAP Section of our journal where often such recommendations occur), we are grateful that the MAB has provided some clear guidelines to help us become more aware of HAE so we can more consistently know what to do if we do find ourselves with a child who may have or does have HAE. If you want to be updated on an illness you may not have thought about in a while, but are confronted with an HAE patient in your care, this is the “special article” for you.
