Intestinal venous vascular malformation: Unusual etiology of gastrointestinal bleeding in pediatrics. Case report

• Published in: Archivos argentinos de pediatría Vol. 114; no. 3; pp. e159 - e162
• Main Authors: Ninomiya, Inés S, Steimberg, Clarisa, Udaquiola, Julia, González, Lucio, Liberto, Daniel, Cieri, Patricio, Peralta, Oscar, Orsi, Marina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Argentina 01-06-2016
• Subjects: Cecum - blood supply; Child; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage - etiology; Humans; Ileum - blood supply; Male; Vascular Malformations - complications; Vascular malformation; Gastrointestinal hemorrhage
• ISSN: 1668-3501
• DOI: 10.5546/aap.2016.e159

Intestinal vascular malformations, especially those in the right colon, are a frequent cause of lower gastrointestinal bleeding in adults, but they are a very rare condition in children. Symptoms include acute hemorrhage, intestinal obstruction, or chronic anemia of uncertain etiology, which is the most frequent form of presentation but the most difficult to diagnose and thus properly treat. We report the case of an 11 year old boy admitted to the Emergency Room with abdominal pain, vomits, hemodynamic decompensation, who required expansion and blood transfusion. With history ofrecurrent bloody stools since infancy with repeated normal endoscopies and Tc99 scintigraphy with chronic anemia and no improvement despite adequate treatment. In the last admission, the videocolonoscopy detected a venous vascular malformation in the ileocecal region. The angiography and the entero multislice computer tomography scanner were valuable tools to confirm the diagnosis and to select the appropriate surgical procedure for this rare condition.