Hereditary Angioedema Treatment Patterns Detailed

A recent study examined the real-world treatment patterns of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in the US and assess the impact of HAE-specific medications on healthcare resource utilization (HCRU).

“Real-world data on usage and associated outcomes with HAE-specific medications introduced to the US market since 2009 are very limited,” the researchers wrote.

They conducted a study of 631 patients, 434 of whom reported C1-INH(IV use and 396 reported using ecallantide and/or icatibant. Over the course of the study, there were 306 episodes of prophylactic use of C1-INH(IV) in 155 patients. In 53% of those episodes, use of ≥1 on-demand rescue medication was implicated. Further, 68 of 336 C1-INH(IV) users who were eligible for the HCRU analysis were hospitalized at least once, and 191 visited the emergency department. Of the 18 patients with a central venous access device, 5 required hospitalization and 14 had an ED visit. Overall, the adjusted relative risk of hospitalization and/or ED visits for patients with a CVAD was 2.6 compared to C1-INH(IV) users without a central venous access device.

“This analysis of a large real-world claims database suggests that, despite the introduction of multiple new HAE-specific medications in the US since 2008, a subset of patients with HAE requiring long-term prophylaxis continue to experience considerable disease and treatment burden. Specific treatment burdens suggested by these data include sub-optimal attack prevention efficacy and the need for central venous access in some US patients, along with corresponding higher consumption of hospital and emergency healthcare services.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Riedl MA, Banerji A, Manning ME, et al. Treatment patterns and healthcare resource utilization among patients with hereditary angioedema in the United States [published online October 12, 2018]. Orphanet J Rare Dis. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-018-0922-3.