A case of episodic angioedema with eosinophilia in an elderly woman with primary biliary cholangitis

Abstract

We present the case of a 56-year-old woman diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). She has continuously taken 600 mg/day of ursodeoxycholic acid. Edema of the lower limbs manifested on July 20, 20XX; after 2 weeks, she manifested rapid weight gain and nettle rash on the limbs and trunk. She was admitted to our hospital on August 22. She had marked eosinophilia, hypoalbuminemia, anemia, non-pitting lower limbs edema, and nettle rash of the limbs and the trunk. We ruled out other diseases that may have caused the edema and suspected her with episodic angioedema with eosinophilia (EAE). The peripheral blood eosinophil count rapidly decreased after the administration of 30 mg prednisolone. The edema and nettle rash improved on the 7th day of admission, and the hypoalbuminemia and anemia improved on the 14th day. Prednisolone was tapered and discontinued, and there was no relapse of edema. We revised our diagnosis to non-recurrent EAE. She was diagnosed with asymptomatic PBC; therefore, anemia and hypoalbuminemia were considered not PBC but chronic inflammation and decrease in appetite. In this case, elevation of serum IgG4 was observed at onset and at remission. This suggests that IgG4 may be involved in the development of EAE in patients with chronic liver disease.