[Dieulafoy's vascular malformation as a cause of massive and recurrent gastric hemorrhage].

We demonstrated a Dieulafoy-type vascular malformation in 10 patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Most patients had a history of prior bleeding and were older than 60 years of age. A mean of 2.6 endoscopic examinations had been performed, and a mean of 2500 ml of blood transfused per patient. A localized resection of the lesion was performed in 9 patients and a partial gastrectomy in the remaining. Surgery was performed as an emergency in 5 patients. The lesion was a small, 2 to 5 mm, erosion localized in the subcardial region. The vascular nature of the lesion was confirmed by histologic study in all cases. Postoperative course was uneventful in all patients and no recurrences have been observed.