Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for bleeding angiodysplasia-like lesions in portal-hypertensive colopathy

Portal-hypertensive colopathy has attracted interest in recent years because such lesions can cause life-threatening hemorrhage. In contrast to upper gastrointestinal bleeding from varices, there is no established therapy for bleeding from angiodysplasia-like lesions. This case report describes the first successful use of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) for long-term control of bleeding from angiodysplasia-like colonic lesions in a patient with cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis B infection. During an 18-month course after TIPS, angiodysplasia-like lesions disappeared without any further evidence of recurrent hematochezia, TIPS may be helpful as second-line treatment in patients with recurrent portal-hypertensive bleeding from colonic angiodysplasia-like lesions who do not tolerate or are unresponsive to treatment with beta-adrenergic blockers.