[Contact transendoscopic thermometry via a tube in active gastric and duodenal ulcer]

The temperature of the gastric and duodenal mucosa was taken by a contact method in 473 patients with active ulcer disease, 118 of them being with gastric ulcers and 355--with duodenal ulcers. Sixty four of the gastric ulcers were with superficial gastritis, 54 gastric ulcers were with atrophic gastritis, 298 duodenal ulcers--with superficial inflammatory process and 57 duodenal ulcers with atrophic inflammatory process. The control group consisted of 31 healthy subjects without ulcer niche. In all patients, the temperature of the gastric and duodenal mucosa and in the periulcer niche was transendoscopically taken, at 6 separate levels. Four determinations were performed at each level (at the lesser curvature, greater curvature, anterior and posterior walls). A higher temperature, as compared with the control group, was found in the presence of ulcer defect in the region of duodenum and stomach. In case of superficial inflammatory process no temperature change developed in the mucosa, thus maintaining a statistically significant discrepancy in the region of the ulcer niche. The atrophic process reduced the temperature in the gastric zone in case of active gastric ulcer. The atrophic inflammatory process, in case of active duodenal ulcer, had no statistically significant effect on the higher temperature in the zones of duodenum and pylorous (T1 and T2) in the sites of the ulcer and around it, very likely due to the less manifested atrophic process in the duodenal mucosa as compared with the gastric one.