Ryan and Wells (1971) described 7 kindreds in each of which several persons had widespread telangiectases. The areas affected were predominantly the face, upper limbs, and upper trunk. The telangiectases were venular and associated with upper dermal atrophy. ... Ryan and Wells (1971) described 7 kindreds in each of which several persons had widespread telangiectases. The areas affected were predominantly the face, upper limbs, and upper trunk. The telangiectases were venular and associated with upper dermal atrophy. Wells and Dowling (1981) reported 3 affected families with an autosomal dominant pattern. Person and Longcope (1985) described a 21-year-old man with hereditary benign telangiectasia whose mother and 1 of his 2 sisters were similarly affected. No mucosal lesions or history of hemorrhagic problems were elicited. The authors noted that the disorder, also known as generalized essential telangiectasia, occurs more frequently in women. Person and Longcope (1985) could not demonstrate estrogen or progesterone receptors in the skin lesions of their proband. They were prompted to look for receptors because of the finding of a considerable increase in such receptors in the lesion of unilateral nevoid telangiectasia (Uhlin and McCarty, 1983), a segmental disorder seen in women at puberty, during pregnancy, or while taking contraceptives, but also observed in men with hepatic cirrhosis. Brancati et al. (2003) reported a large family from northern Italy in which 13 members over 3 generations had autosomal dominant hereditary benign telangiectasia. Age at onset could not always be determined, but some parents noted macular telangiectases in their sons during the first months of life. There was a large variability in size (1 x 1 to 6 x 4 cm) and number (1 to greater than 10) of telangiectases observed among affected family members, but lesions invariably became paler with increasing age. Histologic examination showed normal epidermis and dilatation of the smallest blood vessels of the upper part of the dermis.