Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), also known as Osler-Weber-Rendu disease and Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome, is a genetic disorder that leads to abnormal blood vessel formation in the skin, mucous membranes, and often in organs such as the lungs, liver and brain.
It may lead to nosebleeds, acute and chronic digestive tract bleeding, and various problems due to the involvement of other organs. Treatment focuses on reducing bleeding from blood vessel lesions, and sometimes surgery or other targeted interventions to remove arteriovenous malformations in organs. Chronic bleeding often requires iron supplements and sometimes blood transfusions. HHT is transmitted in an autosomal dominant fashion, and occurs in one in 5,000 people.
The disease carries the names of Sir William Osler, Henri Jules Louis Marie Rendu and Frederick Parkes Weber, who described it in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Read more about Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia: Genetics, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, Epidemiology, History
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