A rare cause of rectal bleeding in a 48-year-old lupus patient

Abstract

Cavernous hemangiomas represent a rare benign cause of rectal bleeding. It corresponds to a vascular malformation that can be located anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. Our paper reports the case of a 48-year-old woman treated for cutaneous lupus who presented to our department with intermittent moderate rectal bleeding. The Hemoglobin level was normal. A colonoscopy showed a congestive nodular red-purple vascular formation. At Computerized tomography (CT)-Scan, the lesion appeared as an irregular thickening of the posterior rectal wall, invading the meso-rectum. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a submucosal mass of the rectum containing phleboliths with progressive enhancement in the T2 sequence. Diagnosis of rectal cavernous hemangioma was confirmed. Surgery is the most appropriate treatment for this condition, but since bleeding was not important and had no biological repercussions, multidisciplinary experts meeting decided not to operate on the patient and continue monitoring.