Hereditary angioedema: 44 years of diagnostic delay.

We report a 64-year-old man who suffered from recurrent visible swelling attacks since the age of 20 as well as episodes with severe upper airway edema, resulting in 4 emergency tracheotomies. Eventually after 44 years he was diagnosed with hereditary angioedema (HAE) type II. The aims of this report is to emphasize the importance of awareness concerning HAE, which does not respond to traditional anti-allergic therapy, and remind physicians to test for functional C1-INH deficiency.