Mallory-Weiss syndrome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mallory-Weiss syndrome Classification and external resources |
|
| ICD-10 | K22.6 |
|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 530.7 |
| DiseasesDB | 7803 |
| eMedicine | ped/1359 |
| MeSH | D008309 |
Mallory-Weiss syndrome refers to bleeding from tears (a Mallory-Weiss tear) in the mucosa at the junction of the stomach and esophagus, usually caused by severe retching, coughing, or vomiting.
Contents |
[edit] Causes
It is often associated with alcoholism[1] and eating disorders and there is some evidence that presence of a hiatal hernia is a required predisposing condition.
[edit] Presentation
Mallory-Weiss syndrome often presents as an episode of vomiting up blood (hematemesis) after violent retching or vomiting, but may also be noticed as old blood in the stool (melena), and a history of retching may be absent.
In most cases, the bleeding stops spontaneously after 24-48 hours, but endoscopic or surgical treatment is sometimes required and rarely the condition is fatal.
[edit] Diagnosis
Definitive diagnosis is by endoscopy.
[edit] Treatment
Treatment is usually supportive as persistent bleeding is uncommon. However cauterization or injection of epinephrine[2] to stop the bleeding may be undertaken during the index endoscopy procedure.
Very rarely embolization of the arteries supplying the region may be required to stop the bleeding.
[edit] History
The condition was first described in 1929 by G. Kenneth Mallory and Soma Weiss in 15 alcoholic patients.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Caroli A, Follador R, Gobbi V, Breda P, Ricci G (1989). "[Mallory-Weiss syndrome. Personal experience and review of the literature]" (in Italian). Minerva dietologica e gastroenterologica 35 (1): 7–12. PMID 2657497.
- ^ Gawrieh S, Shaker R (2005). "Treatment of actively bleeding Mallory-Weiss syndrome: epinephrine injection or band ligation?". Current gastroenterology reports 7 (3): 175. PMID 15913474.
- ^ Weiss S, Mallory GK. Lesions of the cardiac orifice of the stomach produced by vomiting. Journal of the American Medical Association 1932;98:1353-55.
