[Characteristics of a combined course of duodenal ulcer and gastroesophageal reflux disease].

Duodenal ulcer (DU) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are often combined. A combination of these wide-spread diseases invariantly effects their pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnostics, and requires correction of methods of their treatment. The authors observed 41 patients suffering from DU combined with GERD (main group) and 25 patients with DU alone (control group). A higher level of intragastral acidity with cardial "acidification", more prominent disturbances in duodenal, gastral and esophageal motor activity leading to duodenal spasm, duodenogastral and gastroesophageal reflux (DGR; GER) were found in the main group. Heartburn as the main clinical sign of GERD appears, as a rule, only in the presence of reflux-esophagitis (RE) confirmed by morphological study of bioptats from the lower part of esophagus independently of an endoscopic form of GERD, positive or negative. In cases of combined duodenal ulcer and GERD certain signs of disturbances in psychoemotional and vegetative spheres were revealed, such as hypochondrial changes, moderate changes in cerebral hemodynamics (vertebrobasilar basin). Administration of eglonil, an atypical neuroleptic with prokinetic activity, as part of complex treatment leads to reduction and/or disappearance of heartburn, DGR, GER, morphological signs of RE, and improvements in the psychoemotional and vegetative status in patients with combined DU and GERD, as well as improvement in quality of life.