Primary ciliary dyskinesia is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting from loss of normal ciliary function. Kartagener (pronounced KART-agayner) syndrome is characterized by the combination of primary ciliary dyskinesia and situs inversus, and occurs in approximately half of patients with ciliary dyskinesia. Since normal nodal ciliary movement in the embryo is required for normal visceral asymmetry, absence of normal ciliary movement results in a lack of definitive patterning; thus, random chance alone appears to determine whether the viscera take up the normal or reversed left-right position during embryogenesis. This explains why approximately 50% of patients, even within the same family, have situs inversus (Afzelius, 1976; El Zein et al., 2003). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of primary ciliary dyskinesia and the Kartagener syndrome, see CILD1 (244400).

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is characterized by the presence of multiple arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) that lack intervening capillaries and result in direct connections between arteries and veins. The most common clinical manifestation is spontaneous and recurrent nosebleeds (epistaxis) beginning on average at age 12 years. Telangiectases (small AVMs) are characteristically found on the lips, tongue, buccal and gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa, face, and fingers. The appearance of telangiectases is generally later than epistaxis but may be during childhood. Large AVMs occur most often in the lungs, liver, or brain; complications from bleeding or shunting may be sudden and catastrophic. A minority of individuals with HHT have GI bleeding, which is rarely seen before age 50 years.