Clinical and pathological characteristics of scirrhous carcinoma of the stomach were studied in 106 cases treated by gastrectomy between 1973 and 1983. The male to female ratio was 0.58. The percentage of scirrhous carcinomas to all gastric carcinomas resected in the same period was three times higher in females than males. The age distribution of the patients suggested that there were two peaks in the forties and sixties in the male, and in the thirties and fifties in the female. The incidence of scirrhous carcinoma in all types of gastric carcinoma was significantly higher in the twenties, thirties and forties compared to the lowest incidence in the seventies. In the female group the primary lesion had a tendency to be adjacent to the fundic gland area and to avoid intestinal metaplasia. In the male the opposite was recognized. Cancer nests with single cells or only several cells were common in this type of carcinoma. These findings suggest that there might be two biologically different scirrhous carcinomas both in the male and the female, the appearance of single carcinoma cells might be favored by female sex hormones and young ages, and not only the original gastric mucosa but also mucosa with intestinal metaplasia could be precursors of single carcinoma cells.

A case of a 71 year old woman who experienced weight loss, diarrhea and edema due to protein‐losing enteropathy caused by amyloidosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis is described. Amyloid deposits were found in the systemic organs, specifically in the bowel. The arterioles were massively involved within the laminae propriae and many were narrowed considerably due to amyloid deposits. Ulcerative lesions, which were accompanied with the ruptured arterioles, were also found. Lymphangiectasia was present in the submucosa, subserosa and mesenterium. The mesenteric lymphatic vessels were deposited markedly with amyloid. The principal cause of the protein loss might be related to the increased capillary permeability to plasma proteins and the exudation through an inflamed mucosa. Functional disruption of the lymphatic flow in the bowel and mesenterium might also participate in the mechanisms of the protein loss. Evidence in this study supports the theory that lymphatic disorders in some patients with gastrointestinal amyloidosis are one of the important factors in the pathogenesis of protein‐losing enteropathy.

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The effects of secretin and caerulein on the absorption of water, sodium, potassium and glucose from the jejunum of dogs were investigated. Intravenous infusion of 1 clinical unit (CU; 82 pmol/kg/h) of secretin inhibited jejunal absorption of water, sodium and glucose compared to control period. Adding an intravenous infusion of 0.4 μg (300 pmol)/kg/h of caerulein to the infusion of secretin, the jejunal absorption rates of water, sodium and glucose were restored to control values. Intravenous infusions of 0.2 and 0.4 μg/kg/h of caerulein induced no significant difference in the absorption compared to control. Thus it seems that secretin inhibits the absorption of water, sodium and glucose from the jejunum of dogs and caerulein, added to secretin, reverses the effect of secretin.

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