Hereditary telangiectasia manifested as gastrointestinal bleeding without external visible telangiectasia

Gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the most common problems confronting the physician. In most instances, the source of the bleeding is easily identified, e.g., peptic ulcer disease, bleeding esophageal varices or a colonic lesion. Recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding, however, represents one of the major enigmas confronting the practicing physician. The patient experiences intermittent episodes of weakness, easy fatigability and anemia with occult blood in the stool. Multiple barium radiographic examinations and often endoscopy and exploratory laparotomy are unrevealing as to the etiology of the bleeding. We have had occasion to investigate three such patients. Multiple evaluations of these individuals did not reveal the source of the bleeding until many years later--Rendu-Osler-Weber Disease (ROW). At the time of their evaluations these patients did not reveal the usual telangiectatic areas present on the skin and oral mucous membrane. The diagnosis was suggested by the presence of multiple gastric mucosal telangiectasia identified by gastroscopic examination. This report emphasizes the need for thorough endoscopic evaluation of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding and describes the gastroscopic findings that indicated hereditary telangiectasia as the probable source of bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract.