Patients with a condition called hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasias or HHT suffer from abnormal blood vessel formations that result in spontaneous bleeding and unsightly arteriovenous malformations known as telangiectasias or AVM.
Jay Piccirillo, MD, Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at WashU Medicine, is a national leader in sclerotherapy, a treatment to eliminate the malformed vessels.
The treatment involves injecting a sclerosing or hardening agent into the vessels. The resulting irritation of the vessel wall causes its destruction and ultimately, disappearance of the AVM. While sclerotherapy is a well documented treatment for varicose veins, its usage for HHT-related AVM is not well established.
The AVM commonly occur on mucosal or cutaneous (skin) surfaces, as well as many organs in the body. One of the most common symptoms is nosebleeds, and 90% of HHT patients live with recurring nosebleeds.
“Patients really like the procedure because it is highly effective, non-invasive, and can be performed conveniently in the office, similar to a dental procedure.”
Jay Piccirillo, MD
Piccirillo has presented his results at national and international meetings for several years and sponsors a visiting physician program to train other otolaryngologists in sclerotherapy. His group recently published a series of case studies documenting the successful removal of HHT-related AVM for two patients. The first patient presented with two AVM on the lip that were bleeding frequently. They were gone just one week following a single sclerotherapy treatment. The second patient had an AVM on the tip of the tongue. After two treatments, the malformation was gone in a matter of days.
According to Piccirillo, the treatment is safe, and side effects are rare. One of the real benefits of sclerotherapy is that it can be administered in an outpatient setting.
For more information on the sclerotherapy program at WashU Med, please contact Jay Piccirillo, MD.