telangiectasia
Meaning of telangiectasia: Tiny surface vessels stretched permanently wide, visible as red threads that fade under pressure and refill the moment it lifts.
Definition of telangiectasia
Telangiectasia is the permanent widening of very small blood vessels close to the surface of the skin or a mucous membrane, making them visible as fine red or purple lines, dots or webs. Vessels of that size are ordinarily too narrow to see at all. Blanching when pressed and refilling when released is what marks them as vessels rather than bleeding into tissue.
What is actually happening in the skin?
The vessels involved are the smallest ones, the capillaries and the tiny arteries and veins feeding them, lying just under the surface. Something has caused them to widen and stay widened: loss of the supporting collagen that normally holds their caliber, a persistent signal driving them open, or damage to the vessel walls themselves. Once stretched they do not spring back, which is exactly what separates this from ordinary flushing. The visible pattern reflects which vessel is involved, so capillaries produce a fine web while a small artery feeding the area gives a central dot with branches radiating from it.
What causes it?
| Cause | Typical appearance |
|---|---|
| Sun damage and aging | Scattered threads over the cheeks, nose and chest |
| Rosacea | Background redness with visible vessels across the central face |
| Chronic liver disease | Spider-shaped marks on the upper body |
| Scleroderma and related conditions | Flat mats of vessels on the face and hands |
| Radiation to the skin | Vessels appearing later within the treated area |
| Prolonged strong steroid cream | Thinned skin with visible vessels where it was applied |
When does it point to something inherited?
A few conditions produce it as a defining feature. Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia scatters marks across the lips, tongue, fingers and lining of the nose, and the same malformation occurs internally, so repeated nosebleeds and bleeding from the gut are the real problems rather than the appearance. Ataxia-telangiectasia pairs the marks, often on the whites of the eyes, with worsening difficulty in coordination and a weakened immune system. Both run in families. A single blanching thread on an adult face carries no such implication, and it is the number, the distribution and the company it keeps that separate an incidental finding from a sign of disease. Treatment aimed at appearance uses a laser or a fine electrical current to close the blood vessel, which does nothing about whatever caused it.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Telangiectasia was noted across both cheeks on examination.
Good to know
Telangiectasia is a physical sign rather than a diagnosis, and it accompanies causes as different as sun damage, rosacea, liver disease, scleroderma and inherited vessel disorders.
Word origin
Where “telangiectasia” comes from
Built from the Greek telos, meaning end, angeion, a vessel, and ektasis, a stretching out.