Long-term follow-up study of patients operated on for benign peptic ulcer

200 consecutive patients operated on for gastric (GU) or duodenal (DU) ulcer in 1956 to 1957 were followed up until 1974. 25 of them died within five years of primary operation and were excluded to eliminate the possibility of coexisting ulcer and malignancy at the time of operation. Four patients could not be traced and 65 died within the follow-up period, but none of them of gastric carcinoma. 46 out of 106 living patients came for re-examination and gastroscopy was performed in 42 of them. The remaining 60 patients were examined by questionnaire. According to the Finnish Cancer Registry none of them had gastric carcinoma. The expected number of gastric carcinomas in the present series was calculated to be 2.3 and of all malignancies 13.6, but only one gastric carcinoma and 19 other malignancies were detected. The gastric carcinoma detected endoscopically and verified bioptically and cytologically was microscopically of anaplastic type. Most of the patients were in excellent general condition without gastric complaints. The present series reveals no clearcut causal relationship between gastric resection and late development of stump carcinoma.