What treatments are available for children who have Hereditary Angioedema?
Fortunately, most prepubescent children with HAE do not suffer from frequent attacks and infrequent flares affecting the abdomen can be managed by using pain relievers and anti nausea agents. The small number of severely affected children who experience frequent and severe attacks must be managed on a case by case basis. The HAE literature suggests that a class of drugs called antifibrinolytics (Amicar is the only drug in this class available in the US) should be the first drug tried if the parents and physician agree that ongoing treatment is warranted. There are a few reports in the literature of children who did not respond to antifibrinolytics, but have been treated successfully with androgens. Two studies done in the US indicate that oxandrin is the androgen of choice for children with HAE so severe that treatment is warranted.
