What causes Hampton’s line in the stomach on double-contrast upper gastrointestinal series?
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Answer:
Hampton’s line is a thin (1-2 mm) radiolucent line at the neck of a benign gastric ulcer, separating the ulcer crater from the gastric lumen; it indicates submucosal edema and is associated with benign peptic ulcer disease due to H. pylori infection, NSAIDs, or other irritants.
Why is it called so?
Named after radiologist Aubrey Otis Hampton, who described it as a diagnostic feature distinguishing benign gastric ulcers from malignant ones on barium studies.
Pathophysiology
Benign gastric ulcers cause inflammatory undermining of the mucosa with submucosal edema, forming a thin radiolucent rim (Hampton’s line) visible in profile on double-contrast upper gastrointestinal series as barium pools in the crater neck, separated from the lumen by edematous tissue.
Alternative names: Ulcer collar (thicker variant)
Other associated named signs: Penetration sign, radiating mucosal folds
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