Icatibant: a novel approach to the treatment of angioedema related to the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.

Angioedema related to the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (AE-ACEi) has, so far, been treated with antiallergic drugs with questionable results. Because angioedema in this setting is likely related to increased levels of bradikinin, we decided to use icatibant, a bradikinin receptor antagonist licensed for use in hereditary angioedema, in a patient with AE-ACEi. In the same patient, the time to resolution of the angioedema during previous attacks was about 2 days when classic antiallergic drug regimens were used; when icatibant was used, this time shortened to 10 hours. Icatibant is a promising drug in the treatment of AE-ACEi.