How I treat bleeding in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia

Abstract

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT, Osler-Weber-Rendu disease) affects 1 in 5,000 persons, making it the second most common inherited bleeding disorder worldwide. Telangiectatic bleeding, primarily causing recurrent epistaxis and chronic gastrointestinal bleeding, is the most common and most important manifestation of this multisystem vascular disorder. HHT-associated bleeding results in substantial psychosocial morbidity and iron deficiency anemia that may be severe. Although there remain no regulatory agency-approved therapies for HHT, multiple large studies, including randomized controlled trials, have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of antifibrinolytics for mild-to-moderate bleeding manifestations and systemic antiangiogenic drugs including pomalidomide and bevacizumab for moderate-to-severe bleeding. This has led to a recent paradigm shift away from repetitive temporizing procedural management towards effective systemic medical therapeutics to treat bleeding in HHT. In this article, 4 patient cases are used to illustrate the most common and most challenging presentations of HHT-associated bleeding that hematologists are likely to encounter in daily practice. Built on a framework of published data and supported by extensive clinical experience, guidance is given for modern evidence-based approaches to antifibrinolytic therapy, antiangiogenic therapy, and iron deficiency anemia management across the HHT disease severity spectrum.