Patients With Hereditary Angioedema Do Not Develop More Severe COVID-19 but SARS-CoV-2 Infection May Trigger Attacks: 66 Cases

PurposeHereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare genetic disease with hyperactivated contact and kallikrein-kinin systems leading to bradykinin (BK) release and edema. SARS-CoV-2 infection results in inflammatory exacerbation. C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency could aggravate clinical outcomes, with HAE patients at a greater risk of adverse outcomes of COVID-19, however, data are still limited. Our aim was to characterize the course and severity of COVID-19 in patients with HAE.MethodsLatin American HAE reference centers evaluated SARS-CoV-2 infection in this population. Patients with confirmed diagnosis of HAE with (HAE-C1-INH) or without C1-INH deficiency (HAE-nC1-INH) were included. HAE symptomatology and the course of COVID-19 were characterized with the application of a questionnaire. Results66 patients from 10 countries (HAE-C1-INH 80,3%; HAE-nC1-INH 19.6%) were reported with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Comorbidities were absent in 69.7% of the patients and obesity present in 12.1%. Attacks occurred in 45.5% of patients with HAE during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Long term prophylaxis was reported in 52% (34/66) of HAE patients. Complete cure was observed in 61 patients (92.4%), pulmonary sequelae in 4 and death in one HAE-C1-INH patient. The cause of death was septic shock secondary to bacterial pulmonary coinfection. Disease progression was not impacted by sex, therapy or type of HAE (p = 0.803). ConclusionAttacks occurred in almost half of HAE patients suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 infection is a trigger. HAE did not represent a risk factor for a worse outcome of COVID-19, even in use of androgens.