Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of gastrointestinal angiodysplasias: A critical review and view points.

Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of gastrointestinal angiodysplasias: A critical review and view points. World J Gastroenterol. 2019 Jun 07;25(21):2549-2564 Authors: García-Compeán D, Del Cueto-Aguilera ÁN, Jiménez-Rodríguez AR, González-González JA, Maldonado-Garza HJ Abstract Gastrointestinal angiodysplasias (GIADs), also called angioectasias, are the most frequent vascular lesions. Its precise prevalence is unknown since most of them are asymptomatic. However, the incidence may be increasing since GIADs affect individuals aged more than 60 years and population life expectancy is globally increasing worldwide. They are responsible of about 5% to 10% of all gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) cases. Most GIADs are placed in small bowel, where are the cause of 50 to 60% of obscure GIB diagnosed with video capsule endoscopy. They may be the cause of fatal severe bleeding episodes; nevertheless, recurrent overt or occult bleeding episodes requiring repeated expensive treatments and disturbing patient's quality-of-life are more frequently observed. Diagnosis and treatment of GIADs (particularly those placed in small bowel) are a great challenge due to insidious disease behavior, inaccessibility to affected sites and limitations of available diagnostic procedures. Hemorrhagic causality out of the actively bleeding lesions detected by diagnostic procedures may be difficult to establish. No treatment guidelines are currently availa...
Source: World Journal of Gastroenterology : WJG - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: World J Gastroenterol Source Type: research