Distribution of gastric ulcers by double contrast barium meal with endoscopic correlation.

The double contrast barium meals and endoscopic examinations of 246 patients with 264 benign gastric ulcers were reviewed with regard to the location of these ulcers. Seventy-four per cent of ulcers were found in the antral portion of the stomach within 7 cm of the pyloric canal. A similar study in the United Kingdom revealed that the majority of ulcers were in the upper body of the stomach. Since true gastric ulcers almost always arise in a pyloric type of mucosa, or in the zone of transition from pyloric to body type mucosa, perhaps this junction zone lies higher in a United Kingdom population than in North Americans. Possibly the higher transition zone and the documented higher frequency of gastric malignancy in the United Kingdom are related.