title: Spontaneous healing of a gastro-colic fistula due to a benign gastric ulcer.
abstract: Gastro-colic fistula is an uncommon complication of a benign gastric ulcer (Laufer et al., 1976). The commonest causes of a gastro-colic fistula are carcinoma of the stomach, carcinoma of the colon and previous gastric surgery for peptic ulcer disease (Allison, 1973; Cody et al., 1975) and surgery is the treatment of choice. We report a case of gastro-colic fistula due to a benign gastric ulcer, which healed spontaneously without treatment. Only one previous case of spontaneous healing of a gastro-colic fistula has been described (Rivera, 1972) and this patient subsequently had surgery to exclude an underlying malignant disease.
mesh_terms: D003108:Colonic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D005747:Gastric Fistula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007412:Intestinal Fistula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging