Clinical and histological features of gastric antral vascular ectasia: successful treatment with endoscopic laser therapy.

Gastric antral vascular ectasia is a rare but important cause of chronic gastrointestinal bleeding. We report five patients in whom endoscopic laser therapy successfully controlled repeated blood loss. The patients were elderly (age range: 61-84 years; mean age: 75 years) and three of them were female. Endoscopically, all patients presented with a characteristic antral appearance of either ecstatic vascular 'stripes' radiating out from the pylorus, or multiple cherry-red spots. In all patients, the gastric mucosal biopsy specimens showed dilatation of the capillaries with focal fibrin thrombi and fibromuscular hyperplasia. Marked improvement of both endoscopic and histological features was achieved with endoscopic laser treatment using Nd-YAG laser photocoagulation. Its importance lies in its recognition and successful treatment with endoscopic laser therapy, which offers an effective and relatively safe alternative to surgery, particularly in elderly patients.