Basophilic leukemia presenting as gastroduodenal ulceration: effect of H-2-receptor blockade.

A patient with multiple gastroduodenal ulcers and gastric hypersecretion due to histamine excess associated with basophilic leukemia is described. Treatment with the histamine H-2-receptor blocker, cimetidine, was able to abolish the gastric hypersecretion and gastrointestinal blood loss. A literature review produced four other cases of multiple gastroduodenal ulceration with this disease, suggesting that it is more common than previously recognized. The availability of a potent H-2-receptor antagonist offers effective and specifically tailored therapy to counteract the gastrointestinal effects of hyperhistaminemia in basophilic leukemia and other "histamine excess" diseases.