CLINICAL ASPECTS OF ACUTE DUODENAL ULCERS -THE FIRST REPORT-

Abstract

The authors experienced twenty cases of acute duodenal ulcers mainly found on urgent endoscopy in the past five years. Clinical and endoscopic studies of these ulcers obtained the following results; 1) There were seven patients (35.0%) who had some inducements. The patients included nineteen males and a female ranging from twenty-nine to seventy-eight in age. 2) The onset of acute duodenal ulcer was sudden. 3) The patients presented with severe clinical symptoms which were severe abdominal pain, hematemesis and melena. 4) Endoscopically, acute duodenal ulcers were characterized by wide, superficial and shallow features. The depth was considered as so-called Ul-II. 5) Location of these ulcers was the same as that of chronic duodenal ulcers. 6) Most of these ulcers healed within two to three weeks. As the etiology of acute duodenal ulcers has not been known, it is difficult to investigate the pathogenesis. However, it is suggested that the disturbance of regional blood flow due to ischemia in the duodenal bulb might be related to the pathogenesis of these ulcers.