Acute myocardial infarction and acute "stress ulcer"

Six patients (males, mean age 45 years) who developed gastroduodenal "stress" ulcerations following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were studied. In these subjects no previous digestive disease symptoms had been mentioned. The clinical pattern of the "stress ulcer" is often atypical. Stomach seems to be the preferred site of "stress ulcer", which generally appears under the form of multiple lesions. Acute "stress ulcer" prognosis is very severe, due to the high rate of mortality (five out of the six cases in this report).