title: Differential diagnosis of angioedema.
abstract: Angioedema without an associated urticarial syndrome evokes a completely different differential diagnosis from urticaria. This review of the literature discusses hereditary angioedema as prototype of angioedema without urticaria. The review then establishes a differential diagnosis for angioedema, which includes allergic contact dermatitis, connective tissue disease, endocrine associations, parasitic disease, tumor masses, and miscellaneous causes for angioedema. Angioedema without urticaria is a distinct syndrome differing from chronic urticaria. The astute clinician should be familiar with the spectrum of disorders ranging from a functional or quantitative deficiency in C1-esterase inhibitor to a panoply of cutaneous and internal medical disorders. Angioedema without urticaria is a symptom in which there are many different disease mechanisms producing subcutaneous swelling recognizable as angioedema.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Shannon Clinic, San Angelo, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Ernest N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Charlesworth
mesh_terms: D000799:Angioedema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans