[Effectiveness of maintenance treatment with cimetidine in duodenal ulcer. Variations depending on the risk group]. / Eficacia del tratamiento de mantenimiento con cimetidina en el ulcus duodenal. Variaciones según el grupo de riesgo.

One hundred and twenty-two patients with confirmed duodenal ulcer were treated with cimetidine during 6 or 12 weeks. After gastroscopic confirmation of healing, treatment was suppressed during 3 months. Patients were randomized into two therapeutic regimens: intermittent according to recurrence of symptoms and maintenance with 400 mg cimetidine. In patients considered as having mild disease (healing at 6 weeks without recurrence) fared better with maintenance therapy than with intermittent dosage. All patients with moderate to severe disease on intermittent therapy had a recurrence (criterion: more than 6 weeks for healing the ulcer or recurrence before three months). Those on maintenance therapy had the following results: no recurrences 28%, one recurrence 56% and more than one 16%. Ninety three patients were followed during one entire year. There was also a statistical difference in the number of severe complications among patients on continuous maintenance (nil) and those on intermittent therapy (8%, p less than 0.05).

[Combined therapy using ranitidine and sucralfate in duodenal ulcer resistant to cimetidine]. / Tratamiento combinado con ranitidina y sucralfato en úlceras duodenales resistentes a la cimetidina.

122 patients with duodenal ulcus have been treated with a cimetidine's single night dose of 800 mg over 6 or 12 weeks. After this period of time, 18 patients still had their wounds without complete healing. This group of patients had been afterwards treated with a combination of ranitidine and sulfacrate over a six weeks period. Only 3 of them achieved a complete ulcus reepitelization, although all of them were clinically asymptomatic. These 3 patients moved to a nightly maintenance treatment guideline of 150 mg of ranitidine, but they quickly presented relapses. A significantly higher consumption of tobacco and alcohol was observed among the patients who did not heal after 12 weeks of treatment with cimetidine. On the other hand the rest of the general facts and ulcus endoscopic characteristics have been similar both in patients resistant to cimetidine and in those who had a favorable evolution.

[Early prognosis of acute pancreatitis (author's transl)]. / Aproximación al pronóstico precoz en la pancreatitis aguda.

One hundred patients with acute pancreatitis are studied. The results in 90 cases were "favorable or very favorable", in ten cases "unfavorable or death". Various different characterisitics were analyzed statistically in relationship to the two types of outcome: sex, clinical histories, and results of physical examination. Furthermore, the individual relationships between age, main initial analytic parameters, and later development were determined. In our experience neither age nor sex, considered individually, showed a significant relationship to the seriousness of the disease. Having had pancreatitis previously proved to be a favorable factor (p less than 0.005). None of the other factors in the case histories showed any bearing of the later course of the condition. Findings in physical examination which were signs of unfavorable prognosis included jaundice (p less than 0.001), low blood pressure (p less than 0.001), tachycardia (p less than 0.005), intestinal paresia (p less than 0.001), pain following decompression (p less than 0.025), and abdominal tenderness (p less than 0.05). Abnormalities in ECG (p less than 0.005), marked leukocytosis (p less than 0.0005), hyperglycemia (p less than 0.02), hypocalcemia (p less than 0.05), and high values for the coefficient of amilase/creatinine clearance (p less than 0.01) also suggested an unfavorable course.