Endoscopic surgical treatment of epistaxis in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia: our experience

OBJECTIVES: Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterised by epistaxis. Surgical procedures for epistaxis vary from diathermocoagulation to nasal closure. The aim of this paper is to report our experience in endoscopic surgical management of epistaxis in HHT patients. METHODS: This is a descriptive, longitudinal study carried out at the Otorhinolaryngology Department of IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia, a reference centre for the treatment and diagnosis of HHT. We retrospectively evaluated HHT patients who underwent surgery for epistaxis from 1996 to 2015, including only those treated with endoscopic surgery. RESULTS: Among the 591 patients hospitalised and screened for HHT, 323 (54.7%) underwent endoscopic surgery for epistaxis, for a total of 679 procedures. General anaesthesia was used in 77.2% of procedures; argon plasma coagulation was the instrument of choice in the majority of patients, followed by lasers and quantum molecular resonance technology. CONCLUSIONS: We report one of the largest cohorts undergoing endoscopic treatment of epistaxis in HHT patients. This mini-invasive surgical treatment allowed us to control epistaxis without major complications and nasal packaging and can be repeated over time. For these reasons, we recommend it as first choice in case of epistaxis in HHT patients.