Abstract
The healing process of gastric ulcer by the treatment with a H2-blocker was examined endoscopically, and the findings were compared with those in patients treated with other anti-ulcer agents to clarify characteristics effects of the agents as well as their significance. One handred patients treated with H2-blocker and 72 control patients with other anti-ulcer agents were studied. Elevation of tissue around or in the floor of the lesions was noted in 22 (22%) of those treated with H2-blocker and in 7 (9.7%) of the controls, the frequency being significantly higher in the former group. According to the endoscopic staging, the occurence of elevation was significantly more common in the H2-blocker group than in the controls in A2 and S1 stages. The incidence of elevation showed a positive correlation with pretreatment size of the lesion. Furthermore, shallow white coat on the ulcer floor was seen significantly more frequently in the H2-blocker group. The two groups showed no difference in the degree of redness of the ulcer around the ulcer. Biopsy specimen taken from the lesions showed tissue elevation contained new granulation tissues. The above results suggest that tissue elevation and shallow white coat are the features of ulcerative lesions characteristically observed during the treatment with H2-blocker. These are considered to be the results of marked growth of granulation tissue due to the active promotion of the healing caused by the potent inhibitory effect of the agent on acid secretion as well as the rapid process of tissue regeneration that follows. However, similar but less notable changes were observed in the control patients who showed rapid healing, indicating that these features are not specific to the treatment with H2-blocker.
