Novel Approaches for Diagnosing and Treating HHT

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) affects blood vessel development and can cause a range of issues from bleeding to reduced neurological function and potentially life-threatening ruptures. The most common symptom of the condition, nosebleeds, has been shown to impact quality of life by affecting work and social relationships. As a leading practitioner and medical innovator specializing in the management of vascular abnormalities, Steven Hetts, MD brings an extraordinary skill set together to bridge clinical treatment and leading-edge technology development for managing this genetic disorder.

Dr. Hetts provides pioneering approaches to treat abnormal vascular lesions of the brain, skin, mucous membranes, and spine as the founding co-director of the UCSF Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia Center of Excellence, Northern California’s only comprehensive care center for HHT. He also serves as chief of Interventional Neuroradiology at the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay.

His passion and endovascular expertise especially shines in the area of medical research and innovation. As co-director of the Interventional Radiology Research Laboratory, Dr. Hetts has spearheaded the development of medical devices including a magnetically-navigated catheter and a device to reduce the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Research shows that the magnetic catheter enables procedures with decreased radiation exposure, increased efficiency, and performance comparable to standard manual catheterization. When fully developed, the chemotherapy filter may also reduce side effects from novel therapies for cancer, vascular malformations, and HHT.