Clinical features and bleeding risk factors of angiodysplasia lesions in a Tunisian population

Introduction

Gastrointestinal angiodysplasia (GIAD) is the most common vascular anomaly in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, yet little is known about the factors favoring their bleeding. Our study aim was to determine the characteristics of patients with GIAD lesions in a Tunisian population and identify the risk factors of bleeding.

Patients and methods

A retrospective study was carried out from January 2010 to February 2020 at a tertiary care medical center in Tunisia. Clinical and endoscopic data were collected from each patient’s medical reports. We divided the patients into two groups: group A, patients with symptomatic GIAD; and group B, patients with incidental lesions. Group A was subsequently divided into two subgroups, according to the presence or absence of recurrent bleeding. The groups were compared by clinical, laboratory, and endoscopic features.

Results

GIAD was diagnosed in 114 patients, with a mean age of 70 ± 13.3 years. GIAD lesions were mainly located in the colon (n = 72, 63%). Fifty-four patients (47%) presented with GIAD-related bleeding. The bleeding diagnosis was made during endoscopic procedures by visualizing active bleeding and the stigmata of recent hemorrhage in 10 (18.5%) and 12 (22.2%) cases, respectively. Most of the patients were treated by argon plasma coagulation (93%). Predictive factors of bleeding were age > 75 years, number of lesions >10, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease (p: 0.008; 0.002; 0.016; 0.048; and 0.039, respectively).

Conclusion

Knowledge of the predictive factors of bleeding aids endoscopists in the decision-making process in cases of angiodysplasia.