[Epidemiology of antirheumatic drug-induced ulcer in comparison with peptic gastroduodenal ulcer. Five-year analysis of a hospital patient sample].

Within the framework of a five-year analysis of a hospital population (n = 503), the epidemiological and diagnostic data of patients with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-associated ulcers of the stomach and duodenum (AIU) were evaluated and compared with those of patients with peptic ulcers (PUC) in the stomach and duodenum with no history of NSAIDs use. With respect to age and sex, patients with AIU were significantly older, in particular in the case of gastric ulcer, and revealed a predominance of female sex as compared with those with PU. Episodes of ulcer disease showed no seasonal dependence, either in the AIU or in the PU group. The use of tobacco and alcohol was comparable in both groups. Nor was any difference found between city and rural populations in either group. Laboratory data revealed a higher rate of pathological deviations in the AIU as compared with the PU group, which, however, was unequivocally due to the larger percentage of elderly patients in the former. With respect to blood group distribution, no differences were observed between the groups. An analysis of ulcer site showed a small preponderance of gastric ulcer (59%) over duodenal ulcer (41%) in the AIU group, while the distribution in the case of the PU group was virtually identical (gastric ulcer 51%, duodenal ulcer 49%), with only small differences in site within the stomach and duodenal bulb resp. Analysis of the risk indicators for ulcer bleeding (AIU 66%, PU 50%) revealed the following pattern: in the case of AIU, patients aged over 65, and in the case of AIU and PU, overweight males, bled significantly more often than, respectively, younger patients and female or normal-weight patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)