Gastritis and Acid Secretion in Patients with Gastric Ulcers and Duodenal Ulcers

A series comprising 63 patients with gastric ulcer and 86 with duodenal ulcer is presented. Basal and maximal Histalog tests (1.5 mg/kg) were made. Biopsies were taken from resected specimens. In the patients with gastric ulcer the mean MAO value was 12.0 mEq/h and in those with duodenal ulcer 29 mEq/h. Among the gastric ulcer patients antral and body gastritis was significantly more frequent than among the duodenal ulcer patients. Antral gastritis was significantly commoner than body gastritis in both types of ulcer. The MAO and the prevalence of antral and body gastritis were not dependent on either the duration of the illness or the age of the patient. The severity of the antral gastritis bore no relation to the mean MAO values in the gastric or duodenal ulcer patients, but there was a negative correlation between body gastritis and the mean MAO values in both groups of patients. Depending upon the site of the ulcer, there was a statistically significant decrease in the mean MAO values from the duodenum to the proximal part of the stomach.