Researchers at ou laboratory participated to a clinical trial on patients with
Rendu-Osler disease that was published in "Journal of the American Medical Association." This vascular disease causes epistaxis (nosebleeds) and arteriovenous malformations in multiple organs inducing cardiac failure in the most severe cases.
In this preliminary study of 25 patients with Rendu-Olser disease associated with severe hepatic vascular malformations and high
cardiac index, administration of bevacizumab (an anti-angiogenic molecule blocking VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor)) was associated with a decrease in cardiac index and reduced duration and number of episodes of epistaxis. Further studies are needed to determine the long-term effectiveness of this therapy.
Cardiac index: amount of blood ejected by each ventricle of the heart per minute per square meter of body surface area.