A PROSPECTIVE CONTROLLED EVALUATION OF ENDOSCOPIC DETECTION OF ANGIODYSPLASIA AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH AORTIC-VALVE DISEASE

Background: In view of controversy about the association of aortic ste nosis and angiodysplasia of the gut, we performed a prospective, contr olled study to evaluate the relationship between aortic valve disease and gastrointestinal angiodysplasia. Methods: Forty patients who had e ndoscopy for clinical indications such as gastrointestinal bleeding, a nemia, polyps, colon cancer, and dyspepsia, and who were found to have angiodysplasia of the gastrointestinal tract, underwent two-dimension al and Doppler echocardiography. Thirty-seven controls matched for age , sex, indication, and nature of endoscopic examination, but without a ngiodysplasia, underwent similar echocardiographic examination. Result s: None of the patients in either group had aortic stenosis. The preva lence of aortic sclerosis, aortic insufficiency, and low left ventricu lar ejection fraction was similar in patients with and without angiody splasia. Conclusions: This study does not support the role of aortic v alve disease as the cause of angiodysplasia of the gastrointestinal tr act. A subgroup of patients with angiodysplasia with aortic sclerosis, with or without low left ventricular ejection fraction, and with or w ithout other valvular disease (but none with aortic stenosis), had inc reased prevalence of gastrointestinal bleeding when compared with cont rols. When aortic valve disease or decreased left ventricular ejection fraction were analyzed as independent predictors, none of them in and of itself appeared to be a factor in bleeding from these gastrointest inal lesions.