Vibratory angioedema

Background. Vibratory angioedema is a rare form of physical urticaria. This entity can be an hereditary autosomal dominant disorder or an acquired spo radic disease. Immediate and delayed forms have been reported. Case-report. A 34-year-old woman was referred to us for a vibratory angioed ema induced by mountain biking. Despite her handicap, she could provoke a c linical tolerance with disappearance of pruritus but not of erythema and ed ema If she continued her physical effort. Diagnosis was confirmed with a vi bratory stimulus using a Vortex for 5 minutes. The realization of a control led vibratory stimuli among 20 volunteers induced a positive response in 7 cases (35 p. 100). Discussion. These results raise the problem of the specificity of the test but also point out the possible physiological response of the body to inten se vibratory stimulations.