Results of surgical management in 92 consecutive patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

Hospital records and follow-up information on 92 patients with surgically proven Zollinger-Ellison syndrome have been reviewed, and data relating to symptomatology, age and sex incidence, pathologic findings, and early and late results of surgical procedures have been summarized. The postoperative mortality rate was 15%, and was adversely affected by previous peptic ulcer surgery, by the necessity of urgent operation for complications of peptic ulcer, and by employment of a procedure that failed to control acid secretion. Thirteen patients were found to have primary gastrinomas of the duodenum and an additional 13 patients had islet cell hyperplasia without evidence of frank neoplasm; prognosis in these two groups appears to be particularly favorable. Despite the current availability of effective nonoperative measures for control of gastric hypersecretion, surgical exploration is warranted in all patients to determine location and extent of tumor and to attempt to control the ulcer diathesis by resection of tumor. Long-term therapy with H2 receptor antagonists is advised for patients whose hypersecretory state has not been alleviated by tumor resection or whose gastrinoma cannot be removed. Total gastrectomy is still indicated in patients whose tumors are not amenable to resection and who are resistant to, or cannot follow, a rigid medical regimen.