[Dieulafoy's exulceratio simplex. A rare but serious cause of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding].

Twelve patients suffering from haemorrhages from a superficial exulceration (Dieulafoy's disease) were treated on an emergency basis during the period from 1981 to 1987. Preoperative diagnosis by means of gastroscopy was possible in 3 cases only. The sites of predilection within the cardia and near to it, except the curvatures, determined the surgical access by means of high gastrotomy-independent of a verification of the diagnosis. In 11 cases the therapy consisted of the purse-string ligature, in one case endoscopic sclerosing was successful. The mortality rate was 16.6%.