«Арбузный» желудок — редкая причина хронической железодефицитной анемии

Abstract

Aim. Demonstration of the rare in general medical practice cause of iron deficiency anemia in a patient with acute and chronic blood loss from vascular ectasias of the gastric mucosa. Key points. Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most common diseases in the world. The most common cause of anemia in gastroenterological practice is chronic or acute blood loss. Gastric antral vascular ectasia, or GAVE syndrome, is the cause of 4% nonvariceal bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract. Diagnosis of the disease requires careful endoscopic and histological examination to differentiate GAVE from similar changes (e.g. portal hypertensive gastropathy) and to choose the correct treatment ways. The presented clinical case demonstrates the difficulties of diagnosing the disease in a polymorbid patient, refractory to endoscopic treatments. Conclusion. GAVE syndrome is a rare but clinically significant cause of bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract. GAVE syndrome may be asymptomatic or accompanied by a clinical picture of anemia or obvious bleeding. Endoscopic treatment using argon plasma coagulation is considered first-line therapy in patients with GAVE syndrome, but most authors confirm the high rate of recurrence of gastrointestinal bleeding after the procedure. The presented clinical case clearly demonstrates a difficult path to the diagnosis of GAVE syndrome, which was finally verified after 7 years of follow-up of a patient with severe, refractory to the therapy iron deficiency anemia, only when a typical endoscopic picture of vascular ectasias in the antrum of the stomach organized in radial bands — the “watermelon” stomach was formed. At the same time, even the use of modern endoscopic treatment methods was not effective. Keywords: iron deficiency anemia, gastrointestinal bleeding, “watermelon” stomach, GAVE syndrome.