[Ophthalmologic diagnosis of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia or Rendu-Osler-Weber disease].

CASE REPORT: Our patient was a 45-year-old woman who had recurrent episodes of hematic epiphora, repeated epistaxes for which no cause was found and a family history of gastric hemorrhage. One of her daughters also suffered from spontaneous hemorrhages.

DISCUSSION: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia is rarely diagnosed by an ophthalmologist; however the occurrence of bloody tears occurring spontaneously in a patient with epistaxis or gastric hemorrhage should lead to suspicion of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia or Rendu-Osler-Weber disease. It should never be forgotten that clinical examination and appropriate investigations are basic components of disease diagnosis.