QUİNCKE DİSEASE İN EARTHQUAKE ZONE

Abstract

Quincke's Disease or isolated uvular angioedema was described in 1882 by German physician Heinrich Quincke. It is a rare angioedema that only affects the upper airway.[1] It is characterized by swelling of the uvula, which rests on the tongue.When I worked in an earthquake zone, there were 2 Quincke's disease applications within a month. Two men, aged 37 and 41, were the patients. They applied to the emergency room with a complaint of foreign body swelling in the throat.There was no fever on physical examination in both of them. Respiratory rate, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation were normal. Both were conscious, GKS 15, oriented and cooperative. There was no exposure to any allergens or medication use. No allergy-triggering factor could be identified in their history.They did not have any disease. It was learned that one of them had previously had the same attack on Mount Ararat, while the other patient had the first attack in his life. After 2 repeated doses of dexamethasone (8 mg), chlorpheniramine maleate and inhaled corticosteroid treatment, the patients' uvula edema resolved. Epinephrine was not administered to both patients. After eight hours of follow-up, they were discharged with a completely normal physical examinationThe fact that we encountered 2 cases of Quincke edema, a rare allergic reaction, within 1 month in a district public hospital with a low number of daily patient admissions in the period after the earthquake, made us think that asbestos and other substances that increased after the earthquake could trigger Quincke edema.