[Impairment of the digestive system in high altitude erythrocythemia]

Among 203 patients with high altitude erythrocythemia (HAE), 89% had various kinds of alimentary canal symptoms, while these were present only in 31% of a control group (P less than 0.01). 49% of the HAE group had stomach, while only 8% of the control group had it. Endoscopic examination revealed 44% of the HAE group had peptic ulcer, being much higher than 6% of the control group. The ratio of gastric to duodenal ulcer in the HAE group was 2 to 1. The HAE patients had higher values of ALT, total bilirubin, LDH activity, LDH1 and LDHs, but lower values of AKP, LDH2, LDH4 and gamma-GT than the controls. The difference was, however, of no statistical significance. B mode ultrasonography showed that the incidence of hepatomegaly and splenomegaly was 24% and 11% respectively in the HAE group, while it was only 4% and 2% in the control group. HAE patients usually had symptoms of digestive system two years after the onset and the incidence at that time was 67%. With the extended course of the disease, the incidence gradually came down. The mechanism of digestive system impairment in HAE was probed and it was shown that treatment of digestive system impairment would promote the healing of HAE.