J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 59(11): 1815-1831, 1959

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IRON METABOLISM IN PATIENTS WITH GASTRIC GANCER AND DUODENAL ULCERS

The author made observations from various angles on the relationship between serum iron and clinical conditions in 45 cases of gastric cancer and 41 cases of duodenal ulcers, so diagnosed out of a total of 520 admissions to the Matsukura Department of Surgery during the three-year-period from January 1954 to December 1956. The basis of clinical classification of these patients was evolved in consideration of the passage abnormalities at the pylorus, gastric hemorrhages and systemic conditions, according to which they were divided into 5 groups as follows :
Group I. Those with good general condition, showing no obstruction at the pylorus, in spite of their complaints of epigastric pain and heart-burn.
Group II. Those with mild degree of emaciation and anemia, even though they complained of gastric distention and nausea.
Group III. Those with marked anemia and generalized weakness, showing such gastric symptoms as hematemesis and bloody stools.
Group IV. Those with moderate degrees of passage disturbances and poor general condition.
Group V. Those with marked disturbance in pyloric passage and extremely grave general condition, accompanied by excessive emaciation, anemia, edema and ascites.
The results of study disclosed the following facts :
1) Serum iron of patients with gastric cancer generally showed a tendency to be lower than that of normal individuals. This tendency became even more marked with the progress of the disease, associated with disturbances in pyloric passage, aggravation of the general condition and gastric hemorrhages.
2) The values of serum iron in patients with duodenal ulcers tended to show a wide distribution, centering around the range of healthy subjects. While the values were often high in those with mildest general condition, they were prone to show remarkable decrease with the progress of the disease, accompanied by pyloric passage disturbance and gastric hemorrhage.
(author's abstract)

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