Effects of bevacizumab on familial epistaxis caused by hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe the clinical effects of bevacizumab in the treatment of familial epistaxis caused by hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). Methods: The data of 27 patients with familial epistaxis caused by HHT who were treated with bevacizumab intravenously from Beijing Anzhen Hospital, the First Clinical Center of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital and Binzhou Central Hospital between December 2016 and December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 14 males and 13 females, aged (55.3±11.2) years. The dose of bevacizumab was calculated according to the body weight of 5 mg/kg. The curative effect was observed one month after the first treatment. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to compare patients' self-scores of systemic symptoms before and after treatment. Epistaxis severity score (ESS) was used to compare and analyze the six problems (including the frequency, duration, intensity, treatment demand, anemia and blood transfusion) of the patients before and after treatment. The changes of hemoglobin levels before and after treatment were compared. SPSS 20.0 statistical software was used to process the data. Results: Among the 27 patients at one month after the first bevacizumab treatment, 22 cases reported that the severity of epistaxis was improved significantly, and 5 cases reported that the treatment effect was not significant. The effective rate was 81.5% (22/27). The significant effect in 22 patients lasted for 5-24 months, with a median duration of 11.23 months. The VAS score of systemic symptoms decreased significantly compared with that before treatment (2.41±2.55 vs 8.19±1.47, t=9.708, P<0.01). The scores of six aspects and standardized scores of ESS were significantly decreased after treatment (epistaxis frequency: 1.78±1.22 vs 3.44±0.80, t=6.814, P<0.01; epistaxis duration: 0.85±0.91 vs 3.00±0.73, t=8.845, P<0.01; epistaxis intensity: 0.19±0.40 vs 1.00±0.00, t=10.696, P<0.01; treatment demand: 0.22 ± 0.42 vs 1.00±0.00, t=9.539, P<0.01; anemia: 0.41±0.50 vs 0.89±0.32, t=4.914, P<0.01; blood transfusion: 0.11±0.32 vs 0.41±0.50, t=3.309, P<0.01; ESS standardized score: 2.50±2.45 vs 7.60±1.30, t=9.344, P<0.01). The hemoglobin level after treatment was significantly higher than that before treatment ((105.48±24.31) g/L vs (73.07±23.71) g/L, t=6.864, P<0.01). Among the 27 patients, there were 8 cases of HHT1 (ENG gene) and 19 cases of HHT2 (ACVRL1 gene). The improvement duration of epistaxis in group HHT1 and group HHT2 was (4.76±5.12) months and (7.60±10.84) months, respectively, which was in group HHT2 longer than that of group HHT1, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in ESS scores between the two groups before and after treatment (P>0.05). Two female patients had amenorrhea after the first medication. All patients had no other adverse reactions and complications. Conclusion: Intravenous bevacizumab is significantly effective and safe in the treatment of familial epistaxis caused by HHT.