Stomach
Ulcers
Acute gastric ulcer
Author: Elliot Weisenberg, M.D.
Last author update: 1 July 2012
Last staff update: 1 September 2020
Copyright: 2003-2025, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: acute gastric ulcer[title]
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Gross images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) imagesCite this page: Weisenberg E. Acute gastric ulcer. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/stomachacutegastriculcer.html. Accessed April 2nd, 2025.
Definition / general
- Also called stress ulcer
- Severe form of acute gastritis in which erosion reaches muscularis mucosa
- Some authors consider large erosions to be stress ulcers
- If underlying condition resolves, complete healing occurs
- Common autopsy finding
- Causes: NSAIDs, steroids, severe physiologic stress (shock, extensive burns, sepsis, severe trauma, increased intracranial pressure, post-intracranial surgery, intensive care unit), systemic amyloidosis, post-chemotherapy, radiation therapy
- Complications: bleeding (may be massive; 1-4% of patients require transfusion), perforation, obstruction from edema / scarring
- Specific forms:
- Curling ulcer: severe burns and duodenal ulcer
- Cushing ulcer: increased intracranial pressure and gastric, esophageal, or duodenal ulcers
Gross images
Images hosted on other servers:
Gastric ulcer
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Usually < 1 cm, often multiple, small brown circular ulcer base (digested blood) anywhere in stomach
- No induration of margins of ulcer - abrupt lesions with normal adjacent mucosa; no scarring or blood vessel thickening
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Various images
