Conclusions
In summary, we show that in our large sample of patients with early symptoms, the majority can always or usually predict an impending swelling and that treatment at an early stage is associated with better outcomes. These results add to the growing body of data on this topic although further research is still required. HAE patients continue to face a number of difficulties and this highlights the need for more focused, well-designed studies in this area to better characterize prodromal signs and symptoms, their predictive value, and the temporal relationships between prodromes and attacks. We hope that our findings will stimulate further interest in how prodromes can contribute to management of HAE. Better characterization and understanding of prodromal symptoms may help patients recognize that an attack is developing and institute preventative behavioural or treatment measures to mitigate swellings and lessen the impact of the disease on their day-to-day life.