RESUMO
The net ionic flux through the gastric wall was determined in eleven patients with hepatic cirrhosis and five normal controls. The back-diffusion of C1- and H+ was significantly increased in the cirrhotic group. In nine patients of this group the H+ loss was above the upper limits of normal. The Na+ flux was positive in both the control and the cirrhotic group. The Na+ flux towards the gastric cavity in the cirrhotic patients was not proportional to the loss of H+. Vasodilatation and edema of the lamina propria was always present as judged by gastric biopsy; in five cases mucosal hemorrhage was observed, in three superficial epithelial desquamation and in one melaena due to hemorrhagic gastritis. One the basis of the increase in H+ loss and the histological findings, we suspect an alteration in the gastric mucosal barrier in the patients with hepatic cirrhosis.
