Gastric bleeding sites: an angiographic study.

Arteriograms showing distinct points of extravasation in 103 patients with clinical gastric bleeding were reviewed. In 98% of cases there was a single point of extravasation, which was located in the proximal portion of the stomach in 92%. The left gastric artery supplied the bleeding site in 85% of patients. Angiographic and endoscopic findings agreed in 83% of patients in whom the endoscopist saw active bleeding and 72% of those in whom the bleeding site was not seen. Stress associated with major surgery, trauma, or sepsis was the underlying clinical condition in 57%, and in 95% of these patients the site of extravasation was the proximal portion of the stomach.