Factors influencing the healing rate of gastric ulcer under treatment with cimetidine.

Factors influencing the healing rate were evaluated by multivariate analysis on 148 patients with gastric ulcer who were under treatment with cimetidine at a daily dose of 800 mg. Factors used were age, sex, therapeutic environment, duration of present ulcer pain, past history of gastric ulcer, the amount of tobacco, alcohol, and coffee consumed before and during the treatment, the period until symptoms disappeared after the commencement of the treatment, and the characteristics of the ulcers themselves. Of these factors, the five factors that had a significant delaying effect on the healing of gastric ulcers were: 1) having a past history of gastric ulcers, 2) symptoms not disappearing within 1 wk after the commencement of the treatment, 3) size over 20 mm, 4) ulcer located in an angle, and 5) round or oval shape of the ulcer. The patients with less than one of the unfavorable factors (n = 36) had the best healing rate (97.2%), compared with those with two (n = 61), three (n = 39), or four or more (n = 12) unfavorable factors. The healing rate of the latter three groups was 75.4%, 53.8%, and 33.3%, respectively (p less than 0.01). Thus, a prognostic score based on these five factors represents the severity of gastric ulcers with regard to the healing in patients prescribed cimetidine.