A CASE OF GASTRIC ANTRAL VASCULAR ECTASIA - INCREASE OF NEUROENDOCRINE CELLS IN THE ANTRUM

We report an 82-year-old woman with severe iron deficiency anemia who was found to have gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE). As she requi red repeated blood transfusion for the anemia and did not respond to v arious medical treatments, she was referred for anterectomy. The patho genesis of GAVE is still obscure and may involve many factors. In our patient, immunohistochemical studies of the resected stomach disclosed a marked increase of neuroendocrine cells. The majority of these hype rplastic neuroendocrine cells, furthermore, showed immuno-reactivity f or 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). These findings suggest that neuroe ndocrine mediators, serotonin in particular, may have been responsible for the local vasodilatation.