Dieulafoy's lesion of the anal canal: a new clinical entity. Report of two cases.

Dieulafoy's lesion is an unusual source of massive lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage. It is characterized by severe bleeding from a minute submucosal arteriole that bleeds through a punctate erosion in an otherwise normal mucosa. Although Dieulafoy's lesions were initially described only in the stomach and upper small intestine, they are being identified with increasing frequency in the colon and rectum. To our knowledge, however, Dieulafoy's lesion of the anal canal has not been described previously. We present two patients with Dieulafoy's lesion of the anal canal who presented with sudden onset of massive hemorrhage. The clinicopathologic features of this unusual clinical entity are discussed and suggestions are made for diagnosis and management.