DUODENAL ULCER AND MELENA NEONATORUM

Comparatively few cases of melena neonatorum due to duodenal ulcer have been reported in the literature, and in these reports the descriptions of pathologic findings do not include graphic reproductions of the finer structures of the ulcers. The condition has been treated extensively in infants and children, especially by Helmholz, 1 whose findings indicate an infectious origin, and by Holt, who includes in his review of the literature nine cases observed in the first week of life. Wiederhofer 2 and Kundrat discuss the condition thoroughly. Two cases, with practically identical symptoms and pathologic findings, are reported here. REPORT OF CASES Case 1. —The patient, a girl, born April 24, 1924, at 2:00 p. m., weighing 3,150 gm. The mother, aged 28, a primipara, had nausea, emesis and frequent headaches throughout pregnancy. For two or three weeks preceding delivery, she had had slight edema of the ankles. Labor lasted for sixteen