Resumen

Introduction: Anemia due to gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is common among the elderly. An important unusual etiology is gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE). Older patients are a heterogeneous population, that make them more vulnerable to disease approach discrimination. Case presentation: An 81-year-old woman with severe chronic anemia attributed to multifactorial causes. She had a story of melena for months and recurrent admissions with high transfusion requirements. After many hospitalizations at emergency room, she was assigned to the geriatrics service, requesting an upper endoscopy with the finding of GAVE, which was treated with an argon plasma application. Discussion: Anemia is a common condition in up to 24% of the elderly. Although the etiology may be multifactorial, most of those with severe anemia have evidence of bleeding. The inertia of attributing its etiology to age and comorbid burden may lead to the neglect of intensive study approaches, limiting diagnostic accuracy and specific treatment. Conclusions: GAVE is an unusual cause of gastrointestinal tract bleeding, with up to 89% of patients suffering from iron deficiency anemia. Therefore, when approaching anemia etiology, it is essential to consider clinical history, due to the association with specific pathologies in the context of the complexity of the elderly person.

Palabras clave: Anemia gastric antral vascular ectasia elderly person

2024-06-18   |   104 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 10 Núm.1. Enero-Junio 2024 Pags. 034-037 J Lat Am Geriatric Med 2024; 10(1)