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rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/hereditary-hemorrhagic-telangiectasia/
NORD gratefully acknowledges Andrew McAsey, NORD Editorial Intern from the University of Notre
Dame, and Reed E. Pyeritz, MD, PhD, William Smilow Professor of Medicine & Professor of Genetics,
Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, for
assistance in the preparation of this report.
General Discussion
Summary
Introduction
HHT was first described by Henry Gawen Sutton in 1864. With similar symptoms to
hemophilia the two diseases were differentiated by Henri Jules Louis Marie Rendu in
1896. William Osler connected the disease’s presence in families to establish it as an
inherited disorder. In 1907 Frederick Parkes Weber continued the characterization of
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the disease, writing a report on a series of cases. In 1909, the name "hereditary
hemorrhagic telangiectasia" was coined, but alternate names based on the scientists
who first characterized it have also been commonly used. Since its first identification,
HHT has been an underdiagnosed disease, affecting more than a million people
worldwide.
Because bleeding episodes become more severe with age, they often lead to chronically
low levels of iron in circulating red blood cells (anemia). Anemia may result in chest
pain, shortness of breath, and/or fatigue. Gastrointestinal bleeding can often be slow,
chronic and intermittent, with few noticeable symptoms until the onset of anemia.
Most individuals with HHT develop arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). AVMs, which
are direct connections between blood vessels of larger caliber than in telangiectases,
affect the lungs, brain, spinal cord, and liver.
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AVMs of the brain exist in a minority of individuals with HHT and may result in
headache, dizziness (vertigo), and seizures. In rare cases, individuals with AVMs of the
brain may experience vision and hearing problems such as double vision (diplopia).
However, usually they are asymptomatic prior to a hemorrhagic event. AVMs affecting
the spinal cord (approximately 1% of those with HHT) are less common and may result
in pain in the back and/or loss of feeling or functions of the arms and legs.
Liver vascular malformations may not cause symptoms or can result in liver or heart
failure. Individuals may experience high blood pressure in the veins carrying blood from
the gastrointestinal (GI) tract back to the heart through the liver (portal hypertension)
and abnormalities of the bile ducts (biliary disease). The bile ducts are narrow tubes
through which bile passes from the liver to the first section of the small intestine.
Pressure on bile ducts from enlarged blood vessels may result in failure of bile to flow
to the small intestine, instead becoming trapped in the liver, resulting in yellowing of
the skin and the whites of the eyes (jaundice).
Heart failure may occur because over time the heart is forced to work extra hard
(hyperdynamic circulation) to compensate for excessive blood flow between the hepatic
vein and the hepatic artery.
Causes
HHT is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. In rare cases, the disorder occurs
randomly as the result of a spontaneous genetic change (i.e., new mutation). All
relatives affected in a family with HHT will have the same mutation. However, in
different families the causative mutation is usually different, with over 600 different
mutations found within the four genes known to cause HHT.
Human traits, including the classic genetic diseases, are the product of the interaction of
two copies of a gene for that condition, one received from the father and one from the
mother. In dominant disorders, only a single copy of the disease gene (received from
either the mother or father) is required to cause the disease. The risk of transmitting
the disorder from affected parent to offspring is 50 percent for each pregnancy,
regardless of the gender of the resulting child.
Researchers have identified four genes that cause HHT. At least one and perhaps more
genes are yet to be discovered.
One gene that causes HHT (ENG), and the protein it produces (encodes), is called
endoglin. Endoglin is found on the surface of the cells that line the inside of the blood
vessels. Scientists believe that endoglin binds to transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-
ß). In mice that are deficient in endogolin, the blood vessels do not mature and there is
a failure in vascular smooth muscle development.
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Another gene that causes HHT is activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ACVRL1) gene. People
with mutations in this gene are somewhat more prone to liver AVMs and to elevated
pressure on the right side of the heart (pulmonary hypertension).
A distinct type of HHT is a rare combination of HHT and juvenile polyposis, a disorder
involving polyps in the gastrointestinal tract. This type of HHT is caused by mutations in
SMAD4.
The genes that cause HHT all code for proteins involved in the TGF-ß/BMP (for bone
morphogenic protein) superfamily of signaling. This group of proteins helps regulate
many cellular functions such as cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. With
malfunctioning signaling, the cells of blood vessels cannot form correctly (angiogenesis),
causing the features of HHT.
Affected Populations
HHT affects males and females in equal numbers. Symptoms can occur at any age. The
disorder is estimated to occur in at least 1 per 5,000 people. However, because some
affected individuals develop few obvious symptoms and findings, the disorder often
remains unrecognized. HHT is known to be underdiagnosed. This makes it difficult to
determine the true frequency of HHT in the general population.
Related Disorders
Symptoms of the following disorders can be similar to those of hereditary hemorrhagic
telangiectasia. Comparisons may be useful for a differential diagnosis:
Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is a common inherited bleeding disorder in the general
population affecting males and females equally. There are three main types of VWD
each with differing degrees of severity and inheritance patterns. Von Willebrand
disease has occurred in individuals who also haveHHT. (For more information on this
disorder, choose “von Willebrand” as your search term in the Rare Disease Database.)
Diagnosis
A diagnosis of HHT is made based upon a detailed patient and family history, a
thorough clinical examination, and imaging studies to identify characteristic findings in
organs. An international group of experts on HHT established diagnostic criteria for
HHT. The four criteria are: recurrent nosebleeds; the presence of multiple
telangiectases in characteristic locations; the presence of internal (visceral)
telangiectases or AVMs; and a family history of HHT. A diagnosis is confirmed if three of
the four criteria are present.
Standard Therapies
Treatment
AVMs of the brain are usually treated by surgical removal, embolization, or treatment of
the affected area with radiation. Specific therapy for AVMs affecting the brain varies
from person to person.
Because of the risk of complications, treatment of AVMs affecting the liver is only
undertaken if an affected individual is in liver or heart failure. Screening for liver AVMs
will only take place if the patient is symptomatic. Liver transplants offer a more long
term treatment for liver failure, but with greater risk.
Iron replacement therapy, either orally or by transfusing iron dextran, are used to treat
anemia secondary to the nose or GI bleeding associated with HHT. Blood transfusions
are a last resort.
Investigational Therapies
Antifibrinolyic drugs such as tranexamic acid have been found to have mixed results in
treating nosebleeds in individuals and carry a risk of developing blood clots elsewhere.
Bevacizumab (Avastin) has been used experimentally to reduce the number and
severity of nosebleeds in persons with HHT. While results are promising in reducing
nosebleeds, the proper dosing, route of administration and treatment frequency for
individuals with HHT has yet to be determined.
Estrogen and progesterone therapy, either alone in combination, have been used
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experimentally to prevent recurrent bleeding associated with HHT. Reports of the
effectiveness of these treatments have varied in the medical literature. Further research
is needed to determine the long-term safety and effectiveness of these treatments for
HHT.
For information about clinical trials being conducted at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) in Bethesda, MD, contact the NIH Patient Recruitment Office:
Tollfree: (800) 411-1222
TTY: (866) 411-1010
Email: [email protected]
Other Organizations
Genetic and Rare Diseases (GARD) Information Center
PO Box 8126
Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8126
Phone: (301) 251-4925
Toll-free: (888) 205-2311
Website: http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/GARD/
March of Dimes
1550 Crystal Dr, Suite 1300
Arlington, VA 22202 USA
Phone: (888) 663-4637
Website: http://www.marchofdimes.org
References
TEXTBOOKS
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Guttmacher AE, Marchuk DA, Trerotola SO, Pyeritz RE. Hereditary hemorrhagic
telangiectasia (Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome). In: Rimoin DL, Pyeritz RE, Korf BR (eds).
Emery and Rimoin’s Essential Medical Genetics. Oxford: Academic Press, 2013;192-5.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Bernhardt BA, Zayac C, Trerotola SO, Asch DA, Pyeritz RE. Cost savings through
molecular diagnosis for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Genet Med 2012;
14:604-10. doi: 10.1038/gim.2011.56. PMID: 22281938
Faughnan, M. E., et al. International guidelines for the diagnosis and management of
hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia. Journal of medical genetics. 2011:48.2:73-87.
Karnezis, Tom T., and Terence M. Davidson. Efficacy of intranasal bevacizumab (Avastin)
treatment in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia-associated epistaxis.
The Laryngoscope. 2011: 121.3: 636-638.
Jameson, John J., and David R. Cave. Hormonal and antihormonal therapy for epistaxis
in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. The Laryngoscope. 2004:114.4: 705-
709.amcaseyFuchizaki, Uichiro, et al. Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (Rendu-
Osler-Weber disease). The Lancet . 2003:362.9394:1490-1494.
Sabbà, Carlo, Mauro Gallitelli, and Giuseppe Palasciano. Efficacy of unusually high doses
of tranexamic acid for the treatment of epistaxis in hereditary hemorrhagic
telangiectasia. New England Journal of Medicine. 2001: 345.12:926-926.
INTERNET
McDonald J, Pyeritz RE. Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. 2000 Jun 26 [Updated
2014 Jul 24]. In: Pagon RA, Adam MP, Ardinger HH, et al., editors. GeneReviews®
[Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2017. Available from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1351/ Accessed January 30, 2017.
McKusick VA, ed. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM). Baltimore. MD: The
Johns Hopkins University; Entry No: 187300; Last Update: 09/21/2015 Available at
https://omim.org/entry/187300. Accessed January 30, 2017.
McKusick VA, ed. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM). Baltimore. MD: The
Johns Hopkins University;Entry No: 600376; Last Update:01/31/2014; Available at
https://omim.org/entry/600376. Accessed January 30, 2017.
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McKusick VA, ed. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM). Baltimore. MD: The
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McKusick VA, ed. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM). Baltimore. MD: The
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Years Published
1986, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2014, 2017
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