Follow-up of patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia in the nose, with special reference to septal dermoplasty.

Seventeen patients treated for recurrent epistaxis due to Osler's disease in the nose were followed up 6 months - 19 years after treatment. A written questionnaire was answered by 13 of the 14 patients surviving at follow-up. They had undergone either septal dermoplasty, or irradiation with 1200--1400 rad on both sides of the nose, or both kinds of treatment. All patients were satisfied with their treatment. The amount of nose-bleeding was reduced in all but one of the surgically treated patients, and the frequency was reduced in nine of the 13 patients. Nasal crusts, often causing nasal obstruction, were a problem, at least shortly after operation. Pathological vessels were found within the skin graft at secondary operation in one patient, showing that telangiectasia can develop in the graft area and cause recurrences of the epistaxis, sometimes necessitating further operations.