Eight-thousand-six-hundred-and-eighty patients were examined endoscopically over a
period of six years. Significant pathological lesions were detected in 79.6 % of the
cases. While duodenal ulcers were seen at the same frequency as in the West, the number
of gastric ulcers were considerably fewer, the ratio of gastric to duodenal ulcer
being 1:8.4. Gastric cancer was also observed less commonly than in the West, but
gastric lymphoma constituted 21 % of all gastric malignancies. By endoscoping all
bleeders within 24 hours we were able to identify the source of bleeding in 90.9 %
of the cases, and a lesion was detected in 96.8 %. Direct visualisation of the duodenal
and jejunal mucosa supported by histological examination was of paramount importance
in the early detection of Immunoproliferative Small Intestinal Disease (IPSID) and
its differentiation from other diseases such as tuberculosis, bilharzial jejunitis
and Crohn's disease which are seen in our population.
Endoscopy - Jejunoscopy - Duodenal ulcer - Gastric ulcer - Gastric lymphoma - Immunoproliferative
Small Intestinal Disease - Bleeding
