generalized essential telangiectasia generalized essential telangiectasia generalized essential telangiectasia (also known as "general essential telangiectasia") is characterized by the dilation of veins and capillaries over a large segment of the body without preceding or coexisting lesions, telengiectases that may be distributed over the entire body or be localized to some large area such as the legs, arms, or trunk.: 589, 844 generalized essential telangiectasiathis condition is inherited in an autosomal dominant mannerspecialtydermatology