A large series of duodenal ulcer patients was examined in order to determine the prevalence rate of reflux esophagitis and compare it to that of a series of symptomatic controls, as well as to find out if complicated duodenal ulcer patients are at a higher risk of developing reflux esophagitis. All consecutive patients attending the endoscopy unit between January and December 1996 who were found to have duodenal ulcers were prospectively recruited for this study. Consecutive patients with upper abdominal symptoms but negative gastroscopy for duodenal ulcers were used as a control. Patients known to have reflux esophagitis, those on peptic ulcer treatment for more than a week, those with dysphagia as a presenting symptom or underlying upper gastrointestinal malignancy, and patients who had undergone previous ulcer surgery were excluded from the study. However, group I included significantly more patients with underlying co-morbid conditions and fewer females.
Endoscopic esophagitis is a frequent finding in both duodenal ulcer and control subjects.
Endoscopic esophagitis, duodenal ulcer. No similar population-based studies exist in Saudi Arabia. In the absence of ulcerogenic drugs, H. pylori is the most important factor in the pathogenesis of peptic ulcer disease. 2 Successful eradication of H. pylori results in healing of duodenal ulcer and prevents ulcer recurrence. Duodenal ulcer may be frequently associated with reflux esophagitis, 9-11 although the published literature reveals different prevalence rates of this association.