Second international guidelines for the diagnosis and management of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant disease with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 5000 that is characterized by the presence of vascular malformations (VMs). These result in chronic bleeding, acute hemorrhage, and complications from shunting through VMs. The goal of the Second International HHT Guidelines process was to develop evidence-based consensus guidelines for the management and prevention of HHT-related symptoms and complications. The guidelines were developed using the AGREE II (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II) framework and GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methodology. The guidelines expert panel included expert physicians (clinical and genetic) in HHT from 15 countries, guidelines methodologists, health care workers, health care administrators, patient advocacy representatives, and persons with HHT. During the preconference process, the expert panel generated clinically relevant questions in 6 priority topic areas. A systematic literature search was done in June 2019, and articles meeting a priori criteria were included to generate evidence tables, which were used as the basis for recommendation development. The expert panel subsequently convened during a guidelines conference to conduct a structured consensus process, during which recommendations reaching at least 80% consensus were discussed and approved. The expert panel generated and approved 6 new recommendations for each of the following 6 priority topic areas: epistaxis, gastrointestinal bleeding, anemia and iron deficiency, liver VMs, pediatric care, and pregnancy and delivery (36 total). The recommendations highlight new evidence in existing topics from the first International HHT Guidelines and provide guidance in 3 new areas: anemia, pediatrics, and pregnancy and delivery. These recommendations should facilitate implementation of key components of HHT care into clinical practice.

Enfermedades vasculares del hígado. Guías Clínicas de la Sociedad Catalana de Digestología y de la Asociación Española para el Estudio del Hígado / Vascular diseases of the liver. Clinical Guidelines from the Catalan Society of Digestology and the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver

Las enfermedades vasculares hepáticas, a pesar de su relativamente baja prevalencia, representan un problema de salud importante en el campo de las enfermedades hepáticas. Una característica común a muchas de estas enfermedades es que pueden causar hipertensión portal, con la elevada morbimortalidad que ello conlleva. Con frecuencia estas enfermedades se diagnostican en pacientes jóvenes y el retraso en su diagnóstico y/o un tratamiento inadecuado pueden reducir de forma importante la esperanza de vida. El presente artículo revisa la evidencia actual en el síndrome de Budd-Chiari, la trombosis venosa portal en pacientes no cirróticos, la hipertensión portal idiopática, el síndrome de obstrucción sinusoidal, las malformaciones vasculares hepáticas en la telangiectasia hemorrágica hereditaria, la trombosis portal en la cirrosis, otras patologías vasculares menos frecuentes como las fístulas arterioportales, así como un apartado sobre el diagnóstico por imagen de las enfermedades vasculares hepáticas y su tratamiento desde el punto de vista hematológico (estudio de la diátesis trombótica y tratamiento anticoagulante). Las recomendaciones se han realizado de acuerdo a los estudios publicados extraídos de Pubmed. La calidad de la evidencia y la intensidad de las recomendaciones fueron graduadas de acuerdo al sistema Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Cuando no existían evidencias suficientes, las recomendaciones se basaron en la opinión del comité que redactó la guía.

Despite their relatively low prevalence, vascular diseases of the liver represent a significant health problem in the field of liver disease. A common characteristic shared by many such diseases is their propensity to cause portal hypertension together with increased morbidity and mortality. These diseases are often diagnosed in young patients and their delayed diagnosis and/or inappropriate treatment can greatly reduce life expectancy. This article reviews the current body of evidence concerning Budd-Chiari syndrome, non-cirrhotic portal vein thrombosis, idiopathic portal hypertension, sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, hepatic vascular malformations in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia, cirrhotic portal vein thrombosis and other rarer vascular diseases including arterioportal fistulas. It also includes a section on the diagnostic imaging of vascular diseases of the liver and their treatment from a haematological standpoint (study of thrombotic diathesis and anticoagulation therapy). All recommendations are based on published studies extracted from PubMed. The quality of evidence and strength of recommendations were rated in accordance with the GRADE system (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment Development and Evaluation). In the absence of sufficient evidence, recommendations were based on the opinion of the committee that produced the guide.

International guidelines for the diagnosis and management of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia.

BACKGROUND: HHT is an autosomal dominant disease with an estimated prevalence of at least 1/5000 which can frequently be complicated by the presence of clinically significant arteriovenous malformations in the brain, lung, gastrointestinal tract and liver. HHT is under-diagnosed and families may be unaware of the available screening and treatment, leading to unnecessary stroke and life-threatening hemorrhage in children and adults. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this international HHT guidelines process was to develop evidence-informed consensus guidelines regarding the diagnosis of HHT and the prevention of HHT-related complications and treatment of symptomatic disease. METHODS: The overall guidelines process was developed using the AGREE framework, using a systematic search strategy and literature retrieval with incorporation of expert evidence in a structured consensus process where published literature was lacking. The Guidelines Working Group included experts (clinical and genetic) from eleven countries, in all aspects of HHT, guidelines methodologists, health care workers, health care administrators, HHT clinic staff, medical trainees, patient advocacy representatives and patients with HHT. The Working Group determined clinically relevant questions during the pre-conference process. The literature search was conducted using the OVID MEDLINE database, from 1966 to October 2006. The Working Group subsequently convened at the Guidelines Conference to partake in a structured consensus process using the evidence tables generated from the systematic searches. RESULTS: The outcome of the conference was the generation of 33 recommendations for the diagnosis and management of HHT, with at least 80% agreement amongst the expert panel for 30 of the 33 recommendations.

Graded contrast echocardiography in pulmonary arteriovenous malformations.

To compare the results of transthoracic contrast echocardiography (TTCE) adding a grading scale with the results of thoracic computed tomography (CT) in order to optimise the use of both techniques. 95 patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) were examined with TTCE and thoracic CT to detect pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs). According to previous studies, TTCE was divided into a four grade scale depending on the degree of opacification of the left ventricle after the administration of a contrast agent. Of the 95 patients (50.5% female; mean age 46 yrs), none with normal or grade 1 TTCE had detectable PAVMs on thoracic CT. Shunts of grades 2, 3 and 4 were associated with PAVMs according to thoracic CT in 25, 80, and 100% of the cases. There was a statistically significant association between the TTCE grade and the detection of a PAVM by thoracic CT. There were also statistically significant associations between TTCE grade and the cardiac cycle when the contrast was first visible in the left atrium, and size of the feeding artery. Graded TTCE and timing of left atrium opacification may be useful techniques in selecting HHT patients for PAVM screening with thoracic CT scans.

Multifactorial thrombotic-type microangiopathy with skin ulcers and hepatitis C infection.

The case of a patient with hepatitis C virus infection who presented with symmetric ulcers of the legs is reported. She was found to have type III mixed cryoglobulinemia, high titers of anticardiolipin antibodies, lupus anticoagulant, and a free protein S deficiency. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of such an association. The role of these factors in the pathogenesis of skin lesions in the setting of hepatitis C virus infection is discussed.