Eight patients (six women and two men) were found to have iron deficiency anaemia due to diffuse gastric antral vascular ectasia. The mean age of the patients was 74-6 years (range 57-83). AU required repeated blood transfusions (mean 18 units/year) before treatment. Five patients were classified as having the 'watermelon stomach' (group A) and three the 'honeycomb stomach' (group B), according to criteria described in previous reports. All were treated using neodymium:YAG laser photocoagulation. Significant endoscopic improvement and reduction in blood requirements were noticed in group A in which only one patient required a transfusion after treatment. Results in group B were disappointing. One patient was operated on and the other two still require blood transfusions. Laser treatment was safe in both groups and no major complications were encountered. (Gut 1994; 35: 461-463) The condition is often misdiagnosed as antral haemorrhagic gastritis.35' Biopsies confirm the correct diagnosis with the characteristic features of hyperplastic surface mucosa with dilated and thrombosed capillaries and fibromuscular hyperplasia of the lamina propria with ectatic submucosal venous channels.Although antrectomy offers definitive treatment of the condition, it carries significant short and longterm morbidity and an operative mortality of 5-10%.78 Conservative treatment with blood transfusion, iron replacement, histamine H2 receptor antagonists, sucralfate, steroids, tranexamic acid have all be applied with limited success, in an attempt to balance the blood loss, or to diminish the severity of the bleeding episodes.238 Endostasis has also been used with varying results."-'4 In this report we describe eight patients with DGAVE, treated with the Nd:YAG laser focusing on the different therapeutic response of these patients according to their endoscopic pattern.