title: An unusual cause of gastrointestinal bleeding and severe anemia in a child: leech infestation.
abstract: A 1-year-old boy with epistaxis, gastrointestinal bleeding and severe anemia that caused cardiorespiratory distress presented to our unit. The results of coagulation tests were normal. An erythrocyte suspension transfusion was given to the patient. On the second day of his hospitalization, a leech was removed from his nose. In developing countries, leech infestation should be considered in cases where epistaxis, hematemesis, gastrointestinal bleeding and severe anemia are of unknown origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey. mtaskesen@dicle.edu.tr
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taskesen
authors.forename: Selahattin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katar
authors.forename: Hülya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Basçik
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000628:therapy; D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004844:Epistaxis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004935:Esophageal Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007865:Leeches / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome