What is hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, and what causes it?
Dr. Terence Davidson: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, once known as Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome, is a familial illness occurring in about one in 2,000 Caucasians. It is more common in certain populations, such as the Northern European Scandinavian people, and less common in others. In this condition, they have some abnormality in the control of blood vessels, so they develop AV malformations – arteriovenous malformations – or they develop little blood blisters or telangiectasias, which are like the little red things you sometimes see on your nose as one ages. In the nose itself, they develop these telangiectasias and these are, in some people, prone to bleeding. When I say prone to bleeding, I’m talking about people who have a bloody nose one, two, three times a day. It can last for five minutes; it can last for an hour. They are routinely going to the hospital and having their nose packed. In many cases, the bleeding is so bad and their blood levels are so low that they are gett
