Successful Treatment of Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia With Octreotide
Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a disorder characterized by telangiectasias and arteriovenous malformations. We present a case report of a 74-year-old man diagnosed with HHT having a favorable response to a somatostatin analogue for treatment. This patient had been suffering from chronic anemia from recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding, requiring oral/intravenous iron replacement, frequent endoscopic ablations, and blood transfusions. Due to insufficient treatment, he was started on subcutaneous octreotide, with significant improvement as evidenced by a steady increase in the hemoglobin level, decreased endoscopic interventions, and decreased blood transfusions, making this the first case of HHT successfully treated with octreotide.