Urticarial wheals and angioedema are 2 different clinical symptoms. Both belong to various disease entities, and may occur in combination or be isolated. Increased vasodilation and vasopermeability is a common feature. Histamine and bradykinin are well-known mediators. For clinical purposes, 3 groups of diseases can be differentiated: diseases with urticaria and angioedema, diseases with angioedema alone, and diseases with urticarial lesions without angioedema. The article presents an overview of these groups and the role of the main mediators, and the clinical features of urticaria and angioedema.
Keywords: Acquired angioedema; Angioedema; Bradykinin; C1 esterase inhibitor; Factor XII gene mutations; Hereditary angioedema; Histamine; Urticaria.
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