PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF COLONIC VASCULAR ECTASIA BY TOTAL COLONOSCOPY

Abstract

We made a prospective study of colonic vascular ectasia (VE) in patients who were going to undergo endoscopic examination of the colon, excluding those with liver cirrhosis. Our findings were summarized, as follows: 1) Out of the 430 cases examined during a period of 2 years and 4 months, VE was detected in 13 cases (3.0%). 2) The patients with VE ranged in age from 30 to 91 years, with a mean of 71 years, which was significantly higher than those (54 years) of the other patients. 3) VE was often located in the right colon, commonly occurring as a solitary lesion. 4) Chronic heart failure and cerebral infarction were found with significantly higher frequency in the VE group than in the age and sex matched control group. 5) Endoscopically, most lesions were flat, but some were inhomogenous in structure and irregular in border. 6) Bleeding was observed in only 2 cases and asymptomatic cases accounted for 85% of the total cases studied. However, in the light of the high incidence of VE, the proportion of hemorrhagic cases may increase in fututre in Japan as in the U. S. A. and European countries.