title: Patient characteristics with high or low blood urea nitrogen in upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine characteristics of patients with blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels higher and lower than the normal limit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patient records between April 2011 and March 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. During this time, 3296 patients underwent upper endoscopy. In total, 50 male (69.2 ± 13.2 years) and 26 female (72.3 ± 10.2 years) patients were assessed. Patients were divided into two groups based on BUN levels: higher than the normal limit (21.0 mg/dL) (H) and lower than the normal limit (L). One-way analysis of variance was performed to reveal differences in the variables between the H and L groups. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the percentage of patients with gastric ulcer or gastric cancer in the H and L groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  White blood cell count was higher in the H group than in the L group (P = 0.0047). Hemoglobin level was lower in the H group than in the L group (P = 0.0307). Glycated hemoglobin was higher in the H group than in the L group (P = 0.0264). The percentage of patients with gastric ulcer was higher in the H group (P = 0.0002). The H group contained no patients with gastric cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with BUN ≥ 21 mg/dL might have more severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomizawa
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Fuminobu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shinozaki
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Rumiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shirai
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasufumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Motoyoshi
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigenori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishige
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen; D015536:Down-Regulation; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010438:Peptic Ulcer Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000150:complications; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Blood urea nitrogen; Forrest classification; Hemoglobin; White blood cell count