[Treatment of peptic ulcer in the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome with histamine H2-receptor antagonists (author's transl)].

Histamine H2-receptor antagonists metiamide and cimetidine were used in the treatment of severe peptic ulceration in Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. The ulcerations were completely healed in all four patients after treatment lasting from six weeks to four-and-a-half-months. Two patients developed recurrent ulcer after the treatment had stopped, but responded to a second course. One patient developed hepatitis B during cimetidine treatment and it is possible that the course of the hepatitis was unfavourable affected by cimetidine. But no other side effects were noted nor was there a significant change in basal serum-gastrin concentration or an increase in H+ secretion. Total gastrectomy remains the treatment of choice in Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, but cimetidine should be considered if the patient refuses operation or operation is not feasible because of a poor general state.