What is it? Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) is a
genetic disorder of the blood vessels, which affects
approximately 1 in 5,000 people. It affects males and females
from all racial and ethnic groups. The disorder is also
sometimes referred to as Osler-Weber-Rendu (OWR) What are the
main symptoms? Sadly 9 out of 10 people who have HHT have not
been diagnosed, and as someone who knows all the symptoms too
well, I can’t help but pick up on them with friends and so
forth. Here are the Symptoms: 1. NOSEBLEEDS, spontaneous and
recurrent. 2. TELANGIECTASES, multiple, at characteristic sites
including lips, oral cavity, fingers and nose. 3. INTERNAL
LESIONS such as: Gastrointestinal telangiectasia (with or
without bleeding), Pulmonary AVM, Hepatic AVM, Cerebral AVM,
Spinal AVM, Multiple AVMs, etc. 4. FAMILY HISTORY- a first
degree relative with HHT according to these criteria. The HHT
Diagnosis is: - Definite if 3 criteria are present - Possible or
suspected if 2 criteria are present - Unlikely if fewer th