Primary biliary cirrhosis and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: When two rare diseases coexist

Abstract

Primary biliary cirrhosis is a slowly progressive cholestatic autoimmune liver disease that mainly affects middle- aged women with an estimated prevalence ranging from 6.7 to 402 cases per million. Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, or Rendu-Osler-Weber disease, is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by angiodysplastic lesions (telangiectases and arteriovenous malformations) that can affect many organs, including liver, with a prevalence of 1-2 cases per 10000. We describe the coexistence, for the first time to our knowledge, of these two rare diseases in a 50-year old Caucasian woman. In this setting, the relevance of an accurate medical history, the role of liver histology and the characterization of liver involvement through dynamic imaging techniques can be emphasized.