Gastric vascular ectasia (GVE) is an uncommon etiology of GI bleeding. GVE can affect not only patients with cirrhosis but also patients with a variety of chronic diseases.

The aim of the study was to compare clinical and endoscopic patient characteristics and responses to treatment by argon plasma coagulation (APC) of bleeding GVE between patients with cirrhosis and noncirrhotic patients.

Retrospective study of consecutive patients.

Between January 2001 and December 2005, 30 patients were treated by APC for bleeding GVE.

Clinical and endoscopic features and APC treatment success were compared between patients with cirrhosis (group 1) and noncirrhotic patients (group 2).

Endoscopic treatment efficacy was assessed on the recurrence of symptoms after APC.

Seventeen patients were cirrhotic and 13 had no cirrhosis. Cirrhotic patients presented more frequently with overt bleeding (65% vs 15%) and noncirrhotic patients with occult bleeding with iron deficiency anemia (35% vs 85%, P = .01). Endoscopy in noncirrhotic patients revealed more frequently a “watermelon” appearance (23.5% vs 76.9%, P = .008). Endoscopic treatment by APC was successful in 83.3% of patients (88.2% vs 76.9%, not significant). Patients from group 2 required significantly more APC sessions to achieve a complete treatment (2.18 vs 3.77, P = .04).

APC treatment of bleeding GVE was efficient and safe in cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients in more than 80% of cases. Noncirrhotic patients required significantly more APC sessions to achieve a complete treatment. An endoscopic watermelon appearance and the use of antiplatelet drugs were associated with failure of APC.