Fresh frozen plasma for acute exacerbations of hereditary angioedema

Unlike other forms of angioedema, however, acute exacerbations of HAE are not responsive to conventional medications.1 Thus, supportive care and aggressive airway management are the traditional mainstays of treatment for acute attacks of HAE. In 1996, 2 small (n = 6,22) double-blind placebo-controlled studies confirmed the effectiveness of C1-INH concentrate, reporting an average time to improvement of symptoms of 55 minutes in all cases and 35 minutes in cases of laryngeal edema.14 However, C1-INH concentrate currently is not available in the U.S., making the use of FFP the only alternative.