In a gastric mass survey with photofluorography performed on 22, 313 male office workers over 40 years of age, 1, 071 cases of duodenal ulcer (DU) were detected. These cases were scheduled to be followed up every 6 months with endoscopy and without any anti-ulcer drugs. We are able to follow up 624 cases for 1 year and 251 cases for 4 years. The ulcer activity during this period was analyzed in connection with each cases' background. One fourth of ulcer with crater at initial endoscopy were healed, and one fourth of ulcer scar relapsed at 12 months. During 4 year follow-up period, 58% of active DU at initial examination healed at least once, and 53% of red scar and 15% of white scar at initial examination relapsed. Multiple and linear DU showed significantly less healing rate and more relapse rate than single DU. Regarding the relative risks, the cases with a history of previous treatment, amoking and high serum pepsinogen I showed higher ulcer activities during trial period.
