Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia - History

History

Several 19th century English physicians, starting with Henry Gawen Sutton (1836–1891) and followed by Benjamin Guy Babington (1794–1866) and John Wickham Legg (1843–1921), described the most common features of HHT, particularly the recurrent nosebleeds and the hereditary nature of the disease. The French physician Henri Jules Louis Marie Rendu (1844–1902) observed the skin and mucosal lesions, and distinguished the condition from hemophilia. The Canadian-born Sir William Osler (1849–1919), then at Johns Hopkins Hospital and later at Oxford University, made further contributions with a 1901 report in which he described characteristic lesions in the digestive tract. The English physician Frederick Parkes Weber (1863–1962) reported further on the condition in 1907 with a series of cases. The term "hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia" was first used by the American physician Frederic M. Hanes (1883–1946) in a 1909 article on the condition.

The diagnosis of HHT remained a clinical one until the genetic defects that cause HHT were identified by a research group at Duke University Medical Center, in 1994 and 1996 respectively. In 2000, the international scientific advisory committee of HHT Foundation International published the now widely used Curaçao criteria. In 2006, a group of international experts met in Canada and formulated an evidence-based guideline, sponsored by the HHT Foundation International.