Diagnostic Value of the Augmented Histamine Test in Cancer of the Upper Part of the Stomach

Abstract

By the use of Kay's augmented histamine tes ton 87 patients with gastric cancer, it was demonstrated that patients with cancer affecting the upper third of the stomach have preserved acid secretion significantly more often than patients with cancer of the lower two-thirds, and 4 out of 30 patients with cancer in the upper third of the stomach secreted more than 20 mEq H⁺/h. Patients with free acid do not appear to show variations in the quantity of acid according to the anatomical situation of the tumour. Preserved acid secretion in the augmented histamine test does not rule out the possibility of gastric cancer, especially not cancers situated in the upper third of the stomach.

Key-words:

• Carcinoma
• hydrogen ion determination
• stomach