2023 Volume 102 Issue 1 Pages 43-45
A hemodialytic male in his 60s presented with intermittent chest pain and coffee-ground emesis. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed a well-circumscribed area with indistinct vascular pattern in the middle esophagus, followed by blackish ulcerative mucosa at the distal esophagus, ending abruptly at the squamocolumnar junction, which findings were compatible with AEML. With fasting and proton-pump inhibitors, his symptoms rapidly resolved. He did not appear at the follow-up appointment one month after hospital discharge. Five months after hospital discharge, he suffered cardiac arrest and died. AEML is an acute erosive esophagitis whose endoscopic appearance resembles that of severe reflux esophagitis (sRE). Our case-control study showed higher mortality from AEML than from sRE. The endoscopic finding of "well-circumscribed esophageal mucosa with indistinct vascular pattern" could be an endoscopic feature of AEML, and may be useful for distinguishing AEML from sRE.
