Gastrointestinal Bleeding/Angiodysplasia in Patients With Glanzmann Thrombasthenia

Abstract

Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT) is a common type of bleeding disorder, with a prevalence of 1/10,000 in Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia. GT causes bleeding owing to the lack of platelet aggregation associated with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa deficiency, which is characterized by mucocutaneous bleeding symptoms, such as epistaxis, gingival bleeding, and menorrhagia. Gastrointestinal angiodysplasia (GIAD) is a rare presentation of GT, where eight cases have been reported. GIAD is a vascular malformation of the digestive system caused by abnormal angiogenesis. Treatment of GIAD include surgical resection, electrocoagulation, embolization, and medical therapy with octreotide, thalidomide, and bevacizumab. GIAD has a high tendency to recur. We report the cases of eight patients of different ages who were diagnosed with GT and presented with gastrointestinal bleeding.