Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy for esophageal variceal hemorrhage in a patient with idiopathic myelofibrosis

A 74-year-old female with idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF) was admitted to our hospital because of massive hematemesis and melena. Immediate upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed an intermittent spurting hemorrhage from extensive esophageal varices. Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) was carried out and the bleeding ceased. After five courses of EIS, all the esophageal varices were eradicated. About 15 months later, the patient died,due to a cerebral hemorrhage, without further variceal bleeding. A postmortem examination was carried out and the portal hypertension was considered to be due not only to extramedullary hematopoiesis in the sinusoids, but also to increased splenic blood flow. We are confident that EIS is an effective therapeutic procedure for patients with IMF showing esophageal variceal hemorrhage. EIS should be the preferred choice of treatment for esophageal varices in patients with IMF, since it is less invasive than splenectomy.