Angiographic diagnosis and therapeutic embolization of Dieulafoy disease

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of interventional techniques in the diagnosis and therapy of Dieulafoy disease. Methods A retrospective study was performed, including 17 patients with massive upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (patients without peptic ulcer and portal hypertension or diagnosed with Dieulafoy disease by endoscopic examination). All patients had both DSA and interventional embolization treatment, and were followed for 12 months to appraise the clinical effectiveness. Results Sixteen patients were diagnosed as Dieulafoy disease by using DSA. Fifteen of the 16 patients were treated with embolization successfully withoutserious complications. One patient received subtotal gastrectomy because of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage recurrence. Nine patients with irregular upper abdominal pain and burning sensation had complete remission after symptomatic management. Fifteen patients who had embolization showed no serious complications during the follow-up period of 12 months, there was no hematemesis and melena for the 15 cases with successful embolization. Conclusion The angiography and embolization are safe and efficacious in the diagnosis and therapy of Dieulafoy disease. Key words: Dieulafoy disease; Gastrointestinal hemorrhage; Embolization, therapeutic