The Mallory-Weiss syndrome. A review of 23 cases with special reference to coagulation defects.
The Mallory-Weiss syndrome is defined as bleeding from longitudinal tears in the gastro-oesophageal junction. The characteristic history consists of repeated vomiting followed by sudden haematemesis. During the past 4 1/2 years, 23 patients, 17 males and 6 females with the diagnosis of Mallory-Weiss syndrome were treated in our institution. An aetiological factor has been sought for. In a review of the case-records, we discovered that many patients had coagulation defects on admission. This was verified with extended coagulation tests at later follow-up. It is proposed that non-bleeding lacerations in the cardiac orifice in conjunction with vomiting is a common occurence, and that the Mallory-Weiss syndrome may be regarded as a complication occuring predominantly in patients with some coagulation defect.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D001778:Blood Coagulation Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D001792:Blood Platelets; D005260:Female; D006487:Hemostasis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008309:Mallory-Weiss Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged