PEPTIC ULCERATION

Abstract

Few subjects in medicine have received the perennial inquiry and the indomitable resoluteness of the clinical and experimental investigator that has the subject of peptic ulceration. This is evinced by the profound and voluminous literature amassed in the comparatively short period of approximately seventy-five years. This indubitable statement in itself is clearly indicative of the ineluctable conclusion that although much has been learned there is still little definitely known concerning the etiology of the disease. The multifarious hypotheses, the diversity of opinion and the eagerly challenged statements clearly reveal the perplexing problems of its causation. No other condition has more provokingly incited the workers of the various special fields of medicine. The interest of the anatomist is aroused by the possible relationship of the blood and nerve supply to the characteristic location of the ulcer. The pathologist is attracted by its typical occurrence and its relationship to carcinoma. The presence