Abstract
Since 1969, the authors have carried out measurements of temperature on the esophageal and the gastric mucosa using a gastrothermometer with an accuracy of 0.01°C. Three hundred cases were studied, which included 31 esophagi, 76 stomachs and 186 lesions. Four cases of atrophic gastritis and three cases with endoscopically normal stomach were regarded as controls, in which an area of 3 X 3cm2 in size were studied as the standard of the thermal distribution in the stomach. The detailed method of measurement was previously reported in the 1st Asian-Pacific Congress of Endoscopy, held in 1973. Results: 1. A delicate thermal difference existed on the lesions of the stomach, when measured with a precision of 0.01°C. This may reflect the difference of the blood flow in that part. 2. In general, cancerous lesions had a wide range of thermal distribution. 3. In the active gastric ulcer, temperature of the central depression was low, but that of the margin was high. This thermal gradient tended to disappear in the course of healing, and thermal difference became smaller within the central depression or marginal parts. 4. The chronic ulcers without tendency of healing had relatively larger ranges of thermal differences. 5. The bigger the polyp, the larger the range of thermal difference. 6. The temperature in the gastric polyps were higher at the top than at the root. 7. A consideration of the thermal difference would be of diagnostic value as well as thinking of the shape and size in a protuberant lesion. 8. The range of temperature in the esophagus was from 36.30°C to 37.29°C, and its distribution ranged 36.80±0.09°C. 9. The temperature of the stomach ranged from 36.06°C to 37.97°C and its mean value was 37.10±0.13°C.
