Mallory-Weiss syndrome refers to bleeding from tears (a Mallory-Weiss tear) in the mucosa at the junction of the stomach and esophagus, usually caused by severe retching, coughing, or vomiting.
Mallory-Weiss syndrome often presents as an episode of vomiting up blood (hematemesis) after violent retching or vomiting, but may also be noticed as old blood in the stool (melena), and a history of retching may be absent.
In most cases, the bleeding stops spontaneously after 24-48 hours, but endoscopic or surgical treatment is sometimes required and rarely the condition is fatal.
Treatment is usually supportive as persistent bleeding is uncommon. However cauterization or injection of epinephrine[2] to stop the bleeding may be undertaken during the index endoscopy procedure.
Very rarely embolization of the arteries supplying the region may be required to stop the bleeding.
History
The condition was first described in 1929 by G. Kenneth Mallory and Soma Weiss in 15 alcoholic patients.[3]
^ Caroli A, Follador R, Gobbi V, Breda P, Ricci G (1989). "[Mallory-Weiss syndrome. Personal experience and review of the literature]" (in Italian). Minerva dietologica e gastroenterologica35 (1): 7–12. PMID 2657497.
^ Gawrieh S, Shaker R (2005). "Treatment of actively bleeding Mallory-Weiss syndrome: epinephrine injection or band ligation?". Current gastroenterology reports7 (3): 175. PMID 15913474.