[Vascular anomalies as the cause of recurrent intestinal hemorrhages]

A 24-year-old patient suffered from acute intestinal haemorrhage three times within 10 years. After the last bleeding coloscopy demonstrated mesenterial varices in the terminal ileum and in the colon between the caecum and the left flexure. There were no signs of portal hypertension or obstruction of the superior mesenteric vein either by sonography or by angiography. Arteriovenous malformations of the vascular ectasia type were identified as other potential causes of haemorrhage when selective digital subtraction angiography of the superior mesenteric artery was performed segmentally in the proximal jejunum. Since the bleeding stopped spontaneously, no curative therapeutic consequences resulted from the combined vascular disorder. The patient was advised to submit to treatment immediately if bleeding recurred, to enable an angiography to be performed in the acute stage.