Gastrointestinal angiodysplasia in renal failure

We identified angiodysplasia as a cause of gastrointestinal bleeding in 15 of 47 patients (32%) with chronic renal failure (CRF) treated with dialysis who were evaluated for upper or lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage during a 5-year period. Nine patients had lesions in the upper, four in the lower, and two in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract. Ten patients with angiodysplasia experienced more than one bleeding episode during that time. Active hemorrhage from a vascular lesion was seen in nine patients (60%). Erosive gastritis and/or duodenitis was the second most common finding. These data confirm how frequent a cause of recurrent bleeding angiodysplasia is in patients with CRF undergoing dialysis.