Clinical experiences and studies in Curling's ulcer.

• Evidence of gastrointestinal (usually duodenal) ulceration was seen in 20 out of 1,000 patients hospitalized for burns over a period of 78 months. The ulceration was found at autopsy in 17 of the 80 patients who died; it was accepted as the immediate cause of death in 4. The concentration of uropepsin in the urine was higher in the patients with the more severe burns, and this was associated with high concentrations of pepsin and hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice.