title: The arthritic ulcer: a retrospective study of peptic ulceration in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Four patients with duodenal ulcer (DU) and nine with gastric ulcer (GU) were admitted to a general hospital rheumatology ward over an eighteen month period. Indigestion was the predominant though not invariable presenting symptom. Most ulcers healed with cimetidine over a period of six weeks to eight months, though two patients required surgery. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were continued in all patients without major complications. Unanswered questions raised by the study, to which a prospective trial could be directed, include the sensitivity and specificity of indigestion as a presenting feature of peptic ulceration, the effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) other than aspirin on the aetiology and natural history of gastric ulceration, and the rational choice of antirheumatic and anti-ulcer therapy in rheumatoid patient in whom peptic ulceration has occurred.
mesh_terms: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D002927:Cimetidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D002927:Cimetidine