[The "watermelon" stomach as a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding]

The watermelon stomach is a rare subtype of the gastric vascular malformations of unknown origin. It can usually be observed with autoimmune diseases, but in can be associated with other conditions. It is significant, since it can cause chronic iron-deficiency anaemia or sometimes serious acute blood loss. The typical endoscopic picture is linear red streaking of the antrum with convergence at the pylorus with visible tortuous small vessels. Histological examination is frequently not diagnostic. It demonstrates specific features including dilated mucosal capillaries with focal thrombi, dilated submucosal venous plexus and fibromuscular hyperplasia of the lamina propria. Therapy mostly is endoscopic, but some medical possibilities are also known. In their paper they report two cases of watermelon stomach, the lesions were successfully treated with oestrogen-progesterone compounds.