Abstract
The author has performed iron loading tests by mouth on healthy, peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma cases pre- and postoperatively, and also determined liver iron levels on the cases with gastric carcinoma injected ferric gluconate preoperatevely, obtaining following results.
1) There were no significant differences in mean value for serum iron between healthy men and patients with peptic ulcer, but the level in gastric carcinoma was less than one half of that in healthy men.
2) The fluctuation curve of serum iron by iron loading tests by mouth in healthy, patients with peptic ulcer or gastric carcinoma: In healthy, female showed higher value than male, and same value was observed in both healthy and peptic ulcer cases. The value in gastric carcinoma was markedly low compared with former two.
3) In the gastric carcinoma giving sulfuric iron with hydrochloric acid, folic acid and V. B12, highest value of serum iron was slightly higher than in cases giving reduced iron, without noticeable difference in those fluctuation curves.
4) In postgastrectomy cases, on discharge, the fluctuation curve of serum iron in the cases with peptic ulcer was markedly low as in the cases with gastric carcinoma compared with preoperative cases. in reduced iron loading test. Also in those cases operated for peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma passed over two and one half years after gastrectomy, restoration of the fluctuation curve was slight. It is, clinically, of importance to consider postgastrectomy iron deficiency.
5) Liver storage iron was less in gastric carcinoma than in peptic ulcer, and in gastric carcinoma the iron level was not improved even after the injection of ferric gluconate, though serum iron level was slightly elevated.
