Abstract
The endoscopic findings in 7 patients with refractory gastric ulcers against treatment with H2-blockers (non-healed group) were compared with those in 6 gastric ulcer patients for whom more than 3 months was required to heal their ulcers (protracted-healed ulcer group). At the initial stage of ulcers in the protracted-healed ulcer group, the smooth edematous protrusion surrounded the ulcers equally. The converging folds smoothly transfused into the protrusions around the ulcers. On the other hand, in the non-healed ulcer group, the edematous protrusion was uneven and irregularly surrounded the ulcers. Many converging folds reached to the margin of the ulcers, however, some folds were interrupted before reaching the ulcer margins. Many cases of the non-healed ulcer group showed obliteration of the converging fold abruptly as seen in early gastric cancer type IIc, at the healing stage. Thus, non-healed ulcers showed some characteristic endoscopic features at the initial and healing stage. These results indicate that refractory gastric ulcers may be predictable by their endoscopic findings.
