Gastric mucosal blood distribution and its changes in the healing process of gastric ulcer

Changes in gastric mucosal blood volume in the healing process of ulcers were investigated by organ reflectance spectrophotometry performed during endoscopy. Spectra were taken from 24 regions in the stomach in 42 patients with gastric ulcers located at the angle of the stomach. Fifty-one patients with no gastric lesions were used as normal controls. In patients with active gastric ulcers, mucosal blood volume decreased significantly in most regions in the stomach. During the healing process, mucosal blood volume returned to the same levels as those of the controls. On the other hand, mucosal blood volume around the gastric ulcer increased significantly as compared with that of surrounding mucosal at the healing stage. The rise in mucosal blood volume of the ulcer margin at the healing stage (H2 stage) was 33% in cases where gastric ulcers healed within 3 mo, and 2% in cases where the gastric ulcer failed to heal after 3 mo of therapy. It was concluded that the mucosal blood volume changes during the healing process of gastric ulcer and that an increased blood supply to the ulcer margin at the healing stage has a strong effect on the healing periods of ulcer. The reduction of mucosal blood volume at the active stage of the ulcer may also be implicated in the pathogenesis of gastric ulcers.