Abstract
Murakami and Suzuki defined linear ulcer as that which stretches perpendicularly to the direction of the lesser curvature, of which is its axis and with a length over 3.0 cm. But with time, many ideas concerning its definition and concept have evolved. Moreover, studies from different angles have been conducted and various opinions have come to be given about its pathogenesis and origin. We limited this survey to cases of linear ulcer resected surgically. Among them, the fact that the linear ulcer scar rate which was only 3% has risen to 28% after 20 years is a great change. There are no conflicting views on the shortening of the linear ulcer, but it is rare that one encounters a clinically typical case these days. No changes are seen in the length of the linear ulcer itself, but it is notable that the region of the lesion seen from the pylorus ring has become 1.8 cm on the average higher that those of the past. This indicates that the degree of the shortening of the lesser curvature is lessening. Other changes can be seen in age classification such as the 40 age group showing highest incidence in the past, but the same seen in the 40 to 60 age group these days. Linear ulcer was not detected in males and females 20 years of age and in females over 70 years of age during this study. Moreover, it was described that the early gastric cancer with linear ulcer scar.
