Duodenal ulcer in chronic relapsing pancreatitis

Abstract

Frequency of duodenal ulcer in patients with chronic pancreatitis is still controversial. This study aims to prospectively investigate the frequency of duodenal ulcer in a group of 190 patients (162 males and 28 females) affected by chronic relapsing pancreatitis admitted to our department between 1970 and 1979. 41 cases (21.5%) were endoscopically observed (22% of the males and 17.9% of the females; male:female ratio 1.2:1). Drinking habits, cigarette consumption, presence of pancreatic calcifications and surgery did not affect the frequency of duodenal ulcer. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, as fecal fat excretion higher than 7 g/day, seems to be linked with an increased frequency of duodenal ulcer (exact Fisher's test: p = 0.0586). Moreover, duodenal ulcer was present in about one third of the patients who afterwards died, but it was the cause of death in only 1 case. Even if a prospective control population is lacking, the male:female ratio of duodenal ulcer in chronic pancreatitis seems to be different from that observed in a comparable hospitalized group (1.2:1 vs. 2.4:1) and from that reported in literature in the general adult population.