[Prevalence of peptic ulcer in patients with various hepatopathies]

Aim of this study was to re-evaluate the overall prevalence of a peptic disease in 350 patients with liver diseases of different etiology and severity. A normal endoscopic picture was found in 82% of cases. Peptic lesions were found in 18% of total cases and were located in the duodenal (10.9%) and gastric (7.1%) wall. On the basis of the 15-20% rate, which most Authors think to be a reasonable estimate of the overall ulcer prevalence in normal population, the prevalence rate in this survey would suggest that there is no association between ulcer and liver disease. Ulcers were more commonly present in cirrhotic than in noncirrhotic patients. Both alcohol intake and cigarette smoking were identified as two ulcerogenic events in these patients while portal hypertension and etiology of liver disease were irrelevant factors. The contemporary occurrence of the three ulcerogenic factors (cirrhosis, smoking, and alcohol intake) in a given patient seems to potentiate each others as ulcerogenic event. It is concluded that patients with liver diseases share the same risk of developing a peptic disease as the general population.