[Is there a hepatogenic ulcer? Prospective study of the incidence of peptic ulcer in portal hypertension].

During a 7 years study, the endoscopically determined prevalence and incidence of peptic gastroduodenal ulcer in 305 patients with portal hypertension (72% alcoholic cirrhosis, 21.3% non-alcoholic cirrhosis, 6.7% non-cirrhotic portal hypertension) were 4.3% and 3.9% per year, respectively. The yearly risk per patient of suffering from peptic ulcer was 7.4% if both, first and recurrent ulcers (total: 49) were considered. No association was disclosed of peptic ulcer with sex, age, etiology or severity of liver disease. Although an adequate control group was not yet available for comparison, the data do not support the previously postulated relationship between liver cirrhosis and peptic ulcer.