Four Japanese cases of episodic angioedema with eosinophilia.

Here we describe four young Japanese women aged 25-33 years, whose clinical findings are characterized by episodic angioedema, marked leukocytosis with eosinophilia, benign course with spontaneous remission or low-dose prednisolone treatment. The recognized causes of eosinophilia, such as allergy, parasite, and collagen diseases, and the causes of edema, such as heart, kidney, and liver diseases, were ruled out. The findings in these patients are very similar to those reported as episodic angioedema with eosinophilia, which is clearly distinct from the so-called hypereosinophilic syndrome. We suggest that this syndrome is not rare, and should be widely recognized as a new clinical entity for accurate and prompt diagnosis.