[Rare causes of acute esophago-gastroduodenal hemorrhages]

Rare causes of acute esophagogastroduodenal hemorrhages were identified in 61 (4%) of 1,532 patients. Their number has increased 2.5-fold in the recent years due to the wide use of emergency endoscopy. Neoplastic diseases were encountered in 32, nonneoplastic diseases--in 29 patients. The source of the bleeding was in the esophagus in half of the cases, and emergency endoscopy was decisive in its identification. The greatest difficulties arise in the diagnosis of extragastric carcinoma complicated by bleeding. Active therapeutic tactics is advisable in nonepithelial tumors of the stomach complicated by hemorrhage, nonoperative treatment--in nonneoplastic diseases. Arrest of hemorrhage during endoscopy, by means of the polymer hemostatic ferracryl among other methods, increases the effect of nonoperative therapy. A fatal outcome occurred in 12 cases, 10 of them were with carcinoma of extragastric localization.