Abstract
Fibergastroscopic examinations were carried out in 8277 patients in order to study the changes in endoscopic findings in diseases of the stomach according to age.
Properties of gastric ulcer changed according to age. Although the cases of single ulcer outnumbered those of multiple ulcer in every age group, multiple ulcers were rather frequently seen after middle age. As for the relation of the shape of ulcer with age, there was a constant tendency of increase in the number of irregular ulcer with age, with concomitant decrease in round ulcer. A tendency of increase in size of ulcer in advancing age was also suggested. Influence of age was rather definite on the location of the ulcer. When the level of the ulcer is classified into 6 groups, antrum, angle, lower corpus, middle corpus, upper corpus and cardia, a tendency of ulcers to go upward was noted with advance in age. Ulcers above the level of upper corpus occupied only 3-4% of cases below the age of 50 but 15-23% of cases above 50. This tendency is more readily recognized upon calculation of the ratio of number of ulcers above and below the angle or the ratio of ulcers above middle corpus ao those below lower corpus, tentatively called indices of ascendence, I and II. Both indices of ascendence sharply increased with advance in age. Such difference according to age was more pronounced in males than in females. Ulcers outside of the common site of occurrence, the lesser curvature, became increasingly frequent with advance in age. More ulcers were found in the posterior wall in advanced age.
