A case report of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) with recurrent gastric bleeding

Abstract

A 69-year-old female who complained of melena was diagnosed HHT when she had undergone upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (GI) . As treatment, argon plasma coagulation (APC) was performed for all of gastric angioectasia.
She admitted to our hospital due to recurrent of tarry stool and severe anemia. Upper GI revealed a number of bleeding red spots on lesser curvature of stomach body. APC was performed for only bleeding lesions but gastric bleeding recurrence was recognized within 54 days. Repeated treatment with APC not only hemorrhagic lesions but also all of the angioectasia led to no recurrence of bleeding.
In conclusion, repeating endoscopic hemostasis for all dilated capillary vessels could be effective in preventing relapse of stomach hemorrhage for HHT over the mid-and-long term.