Ishoo Angioedema Staging
Stages angioedema by the site of the most distal swelling, after Ishoo and colleagues 1999.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Face or lip swelling
- Yes
- Tongue swelling
- Yes
Result: stage III, taken from the most distal of 2 sites
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Stage I
- Face or lip. In the original series these patients were managed on a ward or discharged.
- Stage II
- Soft palate. In the original series these patients were managed on a ward or discharged.
- Stage III
- Tongue. The need for intensive care admission and for airway intervention rose sharply here.
- Stage IV
- Larynx. The highest stage, and the group in which airway intervention was most often required.
- Not a severity score
- The stage is the most distal site swollen. Nothing is added up: a large facial swelling is still stage I, and a modest tongue swelling is stage III.
- What it is not
- A statement about airway patency right now, or about the mechanism. Bradykinin-mediated angioedema does not respond to epinephrine, antihistamines or corticosteroids.
What you enter
- Face or lip swelling (stage I)
- Soft palate swelling (stage II)
- Tongue swelling (stage III)
- Laryngeal swelling (stage IV)
- The airway is threatened right now (an emergency at any stage; it overrides the staging)
How this is calculated
Ishoo E, Shah UK, Grillone GA, Stram JR, Fuleihan NS. Predicting airway risk in angioedema: staging system based on presentation. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1999;121(3):263-268. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.