Angiodysplasia of the colon. Vascular ectasia of the colon; Colonic arteriovenous malformation; Hemorrhage - angiodysplasia; Bleed - angiodysplasia; ...ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailHomeHealthLibraryAngiodysplasiaofthecolonVascularectasiaofthecolon;Colonicarteriovenousmalformation;Hemorrhage-angiodysplasia;Bleed-angiodysplasia;Gastrointestinalbleeding-angiodysplasia;G.I.bleed-angiodysplasiaShareAngiodysplasiaofthecolonisswollen,fragilebloodvesselsinthecolon.Thiscanresultinbloodlossfromthegastrointestinal(GI)tract.Thedigestivesystemorgansintheabdominalcavityincludetheliver,gallbladder,stomach,smallintestineandlargeintestine.CausesAngiodysplasiaofthecolonismostlyrelatedtotheagingandbreakdownofthebloodvessels.Itismorecommoninolderadults.Itisalmostalwaysseenontherightsideofthecolon.Mostlikely,theproblemdevelopsoutofnormalspasmsofthecolonthatcausethebloodvesselsintheareatoenlarge.Whenthisswellingbecomessevere,atinypassagewaydevelopsbetweenasmallarteryandvein.Thisiscalledanarteriovenousmalformation.Bleedingcanoccurfromthisareainthecolonwall.Rarely,angiodysplasiaofthecolonisrelatedtootherdiseasesofthebloodvessels.OneoftheseisOsler-Weber-Rendusyndrome.Theconditionisnotrelatedtocancer.Itisalsodifferentthandiverticulosis,whichisamorecommoncauseofintestinalbleedinginolderadults.SymptomsThesymptomsvary.Olderpeoplemayhavesymptomssuchas:WeaknessFatigueShortnessofbreathduetoanemiaTheymaynothavenoticeablebleedingdirectlyfromthecolon.Otherpeoplemayhaveboutsofmildorseverebleedinginwhichbrightredorblackbloodcomesfromtherectum.Thereisnopainassociatedwithangiodysplasia.ExamsandTestsTeststhatmaybedonetodiagnosethisconditioninclude:Angiography(onlyusefulifthereisactivebleedingintothecolon)Completebloodcount(CBC)tocheckforanemiaColonoscopyStooltestforoccult(hidden)blood(apositivetestresultsuggestsbleedingfromthecolon)TreatmentItisimportanttofindthecauseofbleedinginthecolonandhowfastthebloodisbeinglost.Youmayneedtobeadmittedtoahospital.Fluidsmaybegiventhroughavein,andbloodproductsmaybere