[Angiodysplasias of the colon and small intestine: a not uncommon cause of gastrointestinal hemorrhage. 3 cases].

Three cases of bowel angiodysplasia with digestive bleeding were reported. In all cases, diagnosis was confirmed by arteriographic and/or histological data. Angiodysplasia of the colon was the most often an acquired and degenerative disease, and most commonly affecting patients after the seventh decade of life. This condition was a frequent and misinterpreted cause of bleeding per rectum in patients after fifty years. Selective superior mesenteric angiography, after colonoscopy (except during major bleeding) was the best investigation, showing pathognomonic images and specifing the site, often located in the caecum and/or ascending colon. Treatment was surgical, but endoscopic methods provided encouraging results.