Two for the price of one: a dual treatment benefit of long-acting octreotide in occult bleeding and diuretic intractable ascites.

Transfusion-dependent anaemia and portal hypertension are recognised complications of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). The anaemia is a result of chronic bleeding from gastrointestinal telangiectasias, which are usually multiple and located throughout the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, treatment with argon plasma coagulation via gastroscopy and or colonoscopy is often insufficient to prevent ongoing blood loss.