Distinctive aspects of peptic ulcer disease, Dieulafoy's lesion, and Mallory-Weiss syndrome in patients with advanced alcoholic liver disease or cirrhosis

Table 3 Key clinical findings regarding peptic ulcer disease in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis

Key finding
Increased prevalence of PUD in patients with cirrhosis. Most common etiology of non-variceal hemorrhage in cirrhotics
Advanced cirrhosis (Child-Pugh stage C) more strongly associated with PUD than early cirrhosis (Child-Pugh stage A)
Most patients with PUD associated with cirrhosis are asymptomatic
Patients with cirrhosis are more likely to bleed from PUD than other patients with PUD
Higher frequency of complications from bleeding PUD in patients with cirrhosis
Higher rate of re-bleeding from PUD in cirrhotics
Alcohol impairs ulcer healing and decreases patient compliance with anti-ulcer therapy
Higher mortality from PUB in cirrhotics compared to non-cirrhotics
Cirrhotic patients with PUD do not have a higher rate of H. pylori infection than non-cirrhotics with PUD

PUD: Peptic ulcer disease; PUB: Peptic ulcer bleeding; H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori.