Gastric Ulceration - all species

Erosive and Ulcerative Gastritis

• Causes gastric ulcers
• Seen
  • Commonly in the dog and pig.
  • In young calves weaned onto a coarse diet.
  • These usually heal as animal gets older.
  • In the horse, associated with parasites.
• Once started, gastric ulcers can erode deeply.
  • May penetrate gastric wall leading to peritonitis.
  • May erode a blood vessel to cause haemorrhage.

Pathology

Gross

Gastic ulcer- gross (Courtesy of BioMed Image Archive)

• Round or oval lesions from 1-4 cm in diameter.
• Sharply “punched out” lesions with perpendicular or slightly overhanging walls.
• Borders are level with, or slightly raised above, the surrounding mucosa.
• Depth is variable.
  • Some penetrate the superficial mucosa only.
  • Some deeply penetrate the muscularis externa.
• Base may be markedly haemorrhagic.
  • In advanced chronic cases, scarring may result in a puckered appearance.

Histological

Gastric ulcer- histological (Courtesy of BioMed Image Archive)

• Appearance varies with the degree aggressiveness of the ulcer and the amount of healing which has occurred.
  • Rapidly excavating ulcers have minimal granulation tissue and collagen deposition.
  • Others may have a necrotic base with a framework of granulation tissue and collagen.
• The blood vessels at the base of the ulcer may be thickened and thrombosed.
• In the bovine, the ulcer may have a superimposed fungal infection.

Pathogenesis

• There are differences in pathogenesis between species.