Abstract
Purpose: Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) syndrome is rare and uncommon cause of occult gastrointestinal bleeding. Characteristic endoscopic appearance of ‘watermelon stripes' earns it the name watermelon stomach. GAVE patients often present with insidious onset of weakness, fatigue secondary to iron deficiency anemia, resulting from occult blood loss. Elderly people are affected mostly and the diagnosis is often missed. Pathogenesis is unknown although this could be a variant of Heyde's syndrome in which gastrointestinal angiodysplasias are associated with aortic valvular disease. Diagnosis is based on clinical history, endoscopic appearance and histological changes. Prompt recognition and treatment with either heater probe, electrocoagulation or argon plasma coagulation result in complete recovery and decreased morbidity and mortality. We present a case of an elderly man with aortic stenosis and multiple other medical problems who presented with fatigue, weakness and severe anemia secondary to chronic blood loss who was diagnosed with GAVE syndrome and prompt diagnosis and treatment resulted in complete recovery.
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