Epidemiology

Angiodysplasias are responsible for approximately 6% of cases of lower gastrointestinal bleeding and 1.2% to 8% of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhages.[5][7]

Colonic angiodysplasia is the most common vascular malformation in the gastrointestinal tract, and most lesions are detected in patients ages >60 years.[5]

Small bowel angiodysplasias are also found in a similar age group and are the most common causes of small bowel bleeding in patients over the age of 40 years.[8][9]​​​​ Angiodysplasias are uncommon among healthy asymptomatic people, with a prevalence of 0.83%.[10]​ Two percent of asymptomatic older patients have colonic angiodysplasia at autopsy.[11]

Small bowel angiodysplasia, with a 1% to 2% prevalence, accounts for 30% to 40% of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding of obscure origin, being the single most common cause of hemorrhage in this subset.[5]

There are no documented global differences, or ethnicity or sex predominance.

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