Dieulafoy's lesion of the oesophagus: a case series and literature review.

Dieulafoy's lesion is a vascular abnormality consisting of a tortuous, dilated aberrant submucosal vessel that erodes the overlying mucosal layer without ulceration. The oesophagus is a very rare location for the lesion. Herein, we report a case series of 3 patients who presented with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Endoscopy was performed, which showed a large calibre-persistent tortuous submucosal artery protruding into the oesophageal lumen. All the patients were successfully managed with endoscopic intervention using epinephrine injection around the lesion followed by hemoclip application. The present paper highlights the remarkably rare occurrence of oesophageal Dieulafoy's lesion and reviews the pathophysiology, epidemiology and management with a focus on diagnostic challenge encountered in such patients. 2017 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.