[Facial swelling caused by small cell lung cancer: a rare differential diagnosis of angioedema].

Non-inflammatory swelling in the head and neck area are usually caused by allergic angioedema. However, other differential diagnoses must always be considered. Superior vena cava syndrome is a rare differential diagnosis of angioedema. Since we treated two such patients within only a few weeks of one another with the initial supposition of an ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema, but who ultimately proved to have lung cancer, we would like to draw attention to this disease pattern. © Springer-Verlag 2010