title: Thalidomide in refractory bleeding due to gastrointestinal angiodysplasias.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to assess the efficacy of thalidomide in the treatment of relapsed or refractory bleeding secondary to gastrointestinal angiodysplasia.
  
  
  METHODS
  we carried out a prospective study of 12 patients with bleeding due to gastrointestinal angiodysplasia refractory to conventional therapy who were treated with thalidomide. For each patient, we considered: age, sex, underlying disease, previous therapies, dose and duration of thalidomide treatment, evolution of haemoglobin levels and adverse effects of treatment. The data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics with SPSS v. 16.
  
  
  RESULTS
  seven men and 5 women with a mean age of 77 years were included in the present study. Five had some underlying pathology and all of them had received prior endoscopic/octreotide treatment. The dose of thalidomide administered was 200 mg/24 h and the duration of the treatment four months, with the exception of two patients in whom treatment was discontinued because of adverse side effects. Mean haemoglobin concentration before onset of treatment was 6.5 g/dL, at two months it was 11.3 g/dL and at the end of treatment 12.1 g/dL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  thalidomide is an effective treatment in gastrointestinal bleeding due to angiodysplasia, but it was withdrawn due to side effects in 16% of the patients included in our study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain. agarser@telefonica.net
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garrido
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sayago
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: León
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bellido
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Márquez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016888:Angiodysplasia / Q000150:complications*; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D013792:Thalidomide