Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

BACKGROUND

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant disorder, which affects various internal organs and has a tendency for bleeding. It has a classic triad of mucocutaneous telangiectasias, recurrent hemorrhages and positive familial history of first-degree relative. Epistaxis or gastrointestinal telangiectasia can be fatal in a small number of cases.

CASE REPORT: A 44-year-old woman came with complaints of recurrent episodes of hematemesis and epistaxis. Patient had a family history of similar complaints. Patient underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), which revealed telangiectasia in the stomach. Imaging of the abdomen showed features suggestive of arteriovenous shunting.

CONCLUSION

HHT can remain undiagnosed for a long time, and is rarely being reported in the literature with management needing a multidisciplinary approach with early inputs from a gastroenterologist.