Abstract
A 40-year-old male admitted to hospital for the purpose of further investigation for melena. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy pointed out a tortuous protruding lesion on the upper posterior wall of the gastric body, while no other lesions to explain melena, such as esophageal varices or ulcers were identified. Under the preoperative diagnosis of localized gastric varices, we carried out an operation. During surgery, the short gastric veins and the posterior gastric vein were found to be dilated. Although splenectomy and the posterior gastric vein were ligated, the gastric protrusion did not disappear. Proximal gastric devascularization and resection of the upper posterior wall of gastric body including the lesion were performed. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen revealed the gastric arter-iovenous malformation. This is the first case of gastric arteriovenous malformation mimicking localized gastric varices in Japan. Gastric arteriovenous malformation as a differential diagnosis of localized gastric varices should be considered.
