A CASE OF COLONIC ANGIODYSPLASIA MONITORED ENDOSCOPICALLY

Abstract

A 74-year-old man complained of severe pain of the left lower abdomen and bloody diarrhea in March 1986. On admission, colonoscopic examination showed a large tumor that occupied the lumen, and five days after admission, sigmoidectomy was performed. The operative specimen contained a granular tumor and two longitudinal ulcers a few centimeters long. This patient was diagnosed as having a sigmoid colon cancer with obstructive colitis. Because of this disease, the patient was followed up. In October 1986, colonoscopic examination showed two bright red spots, one in the cecum and one in the ascending colon. A diagnosis of angiodysplasia of the colon was made (in July 1988 and in January 1990). Endoscopic examination was repeated. The shape of the angiodysplasia in the cecum had changed from round to irregular and its area had grown. The patient had not experienced rectal bleeding or anemia in 3 years and 3 months since the diagnosis of angiodysplasia. To the best of our knowledge, monitoring of asymptomatic angiodysplasia by endoscopy has rarely been reported.