[Early carcinoma of the stomach from the endoscopic point of view]

3060 gastroscopies were performed during the period from 1971 until April 1976 and the diagnosis of gastric carcinoma, was made in 131 cases. From this series, 25 carcinomas fulfilled the criteria of an "early gastric cancer" after examination of the resection specimen. The percentage of early gastric cancer is 0.82% of all gastroscopies and 19% of all gastric carcinomas detected by endoscopy, in our patient series. It is confirmed by this data, that the prognostically favorable early gastric cancer does not occur so rarely in our area, when adequate diagnostic possibilities are available. In this context, greatest importance is attributed to gastroscopy, combined with biopsy.