Effect of atherosclerosis and hypertension on arterial epistaxis.

Eye fundus examination in twenty cases of hypertensive nose bleeding was carried out to evaluate the effect of hypertension and atherosclerosis on epistaxis. Arteriolar attenuation, atherosclerosis and venous congestion were detected in most of the cases. None showed haemorrhages or exudates. Hypertension and atherosclerosis seem to maintain and increase the severity of epistaxis, once it has been initiated by other factors.