[Erosive-hemorrhagic duodenitis: natural history and management]

A group of 32 patients with erosive-haemorrhagic duodenitis or EHD (group 5) was followed up for 36 months in order to monitor the natural history of EHD and any connections with peptic ulcers. The control group (group C) was formed of patients with similar clinical symptoms but an endoscopic picture of either a healthy duodenum or only superficial mucosal damage (non-erosive-haemorrhagic duodenitis or NEHD). The follow-up clinical, secretory and endoscopic examinations annually or whenever there were new acute attacks revealed a far higher incidence of peptic ulcer in group S than group C or in the population as a whole. The study also revealed that there is not always a link between the clinical symptoms and the severity of the endoscopic picture. It is therefore concluded that EHD patients constitute a subclass that should be kept under surveillance and given the same management as duodenal ulcer patients.