- Title
- Improvement in epistaxis management: the experience of a dedicated hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia clinic
- Creator
- Anning, Rebecca; Huang, Johnson; Ronan, Anne; de Malmanche, Jillian; Asher, Rebecca; Low, Tsu-Hui (Hubert)
- Relation
- ANZ Journal of Surgery Vol. 92, Issue 3, p. 499-504
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ans.17322
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Background: Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a rare genetic vascular disorder which is characterised by the development of arteriovenous malformations and telangiectasias. A key clinical manifestation is recurrent epistaxis. This study examined the impact of a dedicated HHT clinic in a major Australian tertiary hospital on epistaxis symptoms and subjective quality of life. Methods: A multidisciplinary HHT clinic was established in 2015. All patients satisfied either genetic diagnosis or fulfilled Curacao criteria. A protocol based clinical assessment was performed and a standardised treatment regimen was implemented. Patients completed quality of life and epistaxis severity score (ESS) questionnaires at each review. Results: Participants of the dedicated clinic included 21 females (58.3%) and 15 males (41.7%), with a mean age of 49.0 ± 24.0 years. The ACVRL1 variant was the most common (n = 20, 55.6%). A statistically significant reduction in epistaxis severity was noted between the baseline and second review (P = 0.02) and was maintained to the third visit (P = 0.015). Patients older than 50 years demonstrate a consistently higher ESS than those less than 50 years old (P = 0.03). This trend is noted throughout the follow up period with the dedicated clinic. Conclusion: The introduction of a multidisciplinary, dedicated HHT clinic to provide enhanced assessment, monitored treatment regimen and greater access to care, resulted in improvement in the management of epistaxis and quality of life in these patients.
- Subject
- arteriovenous malformation; autosomal dominant; epistaxis; hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia; Osler-Weber-Rendu; otolaryngology head & neck surgery; SDG 3; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1464675
- Identifier
- uon:47071
- Identifier
- ISSN:1445-1433
- Language
- eng
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