BackgroundHereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) is a dominantly inheritable disorder, with a wide variety of clinical manifestations due to presence of multiple arteriovenous manifestations. The most common mutations are found in HHT1 (ENG) and HHT2 (ACVRL1) patients, causing alterations in the TGF-β pathway which is responsible for angiogenesis. Modulations of angiogenesis may influence cancer rates. The objective of the study was to evaluate 20-year survival according to HHT subtype, as well as to evaluate differences in causes of death comparing HHT patients and controls. We also wanted to investigate whether cancer morbidity among HHT patients differs from that among controls.ResultsWe included all HHT patients in the County of Fyn, Denmark, prevalent as of January 1st 1995 in total 73 HHT patients. In addition three age- and sex- matched controls per HHT patient were evaluated, in total 218 controls (one was lost due to registration failure). The controls were defined at start of follow-up in 1995. Information on lifestyle factors was not available. A total of 32 (44%) HHT patients and 97 (44%) controls passed away during follow-up. The survival curves were evenly distributed showing similar survival rates in the two groups. Cancer diagnoses had been registered in the follow-up period in 4 (5%) HHT patients and in 38 (17%) controls.ConclusionThe mortality was not increased among Danish HHT patients compared to controls. This study is based on a clinical unselected series of HHT patients with the whole spectrum of severity, independent of need for medical care. Our data also suggest that HHT patients to a lesser degree than the background population are affected by cancer.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13023-016-0533-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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BackgroundHereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder with a wide variety of clinical manifestations due to the presence of multiple arteriovenous malformations in various tissues and organs.ObjectiveTo study the need for hospital admittance in a group of HHT patients and matched controls during a 20 years follow-up period commencing in 1995.MethodsAll HHT patients in the County of Funen, Denmark, were included. For each patient, three age and sex matched controls were identified at the time of enrolment. Data on all hospitalisations were extracted from the national health registers and compared with clinical records. The hospitalisations were grouped as HHT relevant or not HHT relevant based on the discharge diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases, ICD10) and with particular focus on infections, bleedings and thromboembolic events.Patients with HHT were compared with controls concerning the first time incidence of each discharge diagnosis.ResultsWe included 73 HHT patients and 219 controls of which one control was lost to follow-up. HHT-patients had significantly more hospitalisations per person caused by infections in joints and bones, but not caused by infections in general. Bleeding episodes were, as expected, more frequent among the HHT-patients. The study revealed a similar incidence of abscesses and thromboembolisms, including in the central nervous system, among the HHT patients and controls.ConclusionsBased on this study Danish HHT patients had an increased comorbidity of infections in joints and bones and of bleeding episodes. However, the incidence of thromboembolisms, cerebral abscesses and other conditions commonly considered related to HHT was comparable between the patients and the controls. The patients included in this study were closely monitored at a highly specialised HHT Centre where they received relevant diagnostic evaluation, treatment and counselling. Since this is assumed to benefit the overall health of the patients, it may explain why these patients were less prone to comorbidity than other studies have suggested.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13023-018-0962-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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