ACCIDENTAL OR SUICIDAL ingestion of' corrosive substances has been reported
sporadically 1-,'~ and the effects on the upper gastrointestinal
tract have been well documented in patients and in the experimental animal.
a°, 1~ These stndies have demonstrated that the esophagus bears the
brunt of corrosive alkali ingestion, whereas the stomach, and particularly
the pyloric antrum, is preferentially involved after the swallowing of corrosive
acids. Concomitant esophagogastric ulceration and fibrosis occurs
in 10-20% 6, 0 of corrosive injuries and, in these, alkalies are most frequently
the cause. Corrosive gastritis has been reported following the ingestion
of many different substances,L e. 6, s. 9, a2 bnt the presence of hydrochloric
acid in a variety of easily accessible occupational fluids renders it the most
frequent causative agent.
The clinical, radiological, and pathologic features of corrosive gastritis
have been described in moderate detail, but conclusions have usually been
drawn from single case reports. In this paper, detailed case reports of 5
patients will be presented; the clinical, laboratory, radiological, and surgical
aspects will be considered, and the natural history of the disease discussed.
The surgical results will be considered together with those of an
additional 3 cases of corrosive gastritis excluded from the series because of
insufficient clinical data.
CASE REPORTS
Case 1
A 20-year-old assistant garage mechanic was admitted with a 5-week story of ulcertype
dyspepsia complicated by brisk hematemesis. The onset was unusual in that the ill-
From the Gastro-intestinal Service, Groote Schuur Hospital and the Departments of
Medicine, Radiology and Surgery, University of Cape Town.
We are grateful to Dr. H. A. Brown and Dr. A. E. Flax for referring patients to us and
to Mr. R. D. H. Baigrie, Mr. R. D. Casserley, Mr. J. F. P. Erasmus, Mr. R. Lane Forsyth,
and Mr. ~V. M. Roberts for providing operative data. We wish to thank the Medical
Superintendents of the Groote Schuur, Rondebosch Cottage, and Victoria Hospitals for
permission to publish the case reports.
*Ben May Fellow in Gastroenterology.
