Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

Abstract

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), also known as Osler-Weber-Rendu disease, is a rare disorder characterized by arteriovenous communications in visceral organs. The diagnosis of HHT consists of recurrent epistaxis, mucocutaneous telangiectasis, visceral vascular lesion and familial occurrence. HHT can be definitely diagnosed with the presence of all these three criteria. The prevalence of liver involvement of HHT was reported to range from 8 to 31%. Herein, we present a 75-year-old male who was diagnosed as having HHT with liver involvement, based on the findings of recurrent epistaxis, mucosal telangiectasis on the lower lip and hepatic arteriovenous malformation. The clinical presentations of this patient are discussed, and the literature is reviewed.