Gastric bleeding in pseudoxanthoma elasticum.

We report a case of pseudoxanthoma elasticum and gastrointestinal bleeding, and document the degenerative changes of the gastric arterioles occurring over a 26-yr period. In addition to the internal elastic lamellar degeneration and dystrophic calcification, we describe the presence, ultrastructurally, of an abnormal collagen fiber. These degenerative changes in the gastric vascular bed can be a direct cause of gastrointestinal bleeding.