Fatal hemorrhage from a gastric cirsoid aneurysm

Gastric cirsoid aneurysm has been reported as a cause of massive bleeding from the stomach in less than 50 cases. It is an abnormally wide and tortuous submucosal gastric artery that is manifested clinically only subsequent to erosion and hemorrhage. A patient is described in whom the source of hemorrhage was unrecognized despite angiographic and gastroscopic examinations. Medical management was unsuccessful, and the source of fatal hemorrhage was not determined until postmortem examination.