[Three decades of roentgen-diagnosis of the upper digestive tract in the light of modern endoscopy].

The author commemorating professor Géza Hetényi, discusses the relation of endoscopy and x-ray diagnostic. He observes that the spreading of recent fibre optical endoscopes did not solve the problem of the early gastric cancer diagnosis. The experiences of the author based on his practice for several decades, data from the literature and, especially, the Japanese results show that x-ray did not lose its position but rather strengthened it in the diagnostics of the upper gastrointestinal tract. For examinations at identical levels, both diagnostic methods have equal opportunities to reveal gastric cancer at an early stage. In accordance with the type variety of early gastric cancer, the author discusses the relationship between early gastric cancer and gastric ulcer, and he proposes a rational algorithm for its diagnosis and follow-up. He shows that the most effective method for the diagnosis of the upper gastrointestinal tract is a reasonable combination of all available methods, and "primus inter pares" of them is x-ray examination, in addition to endoscopy.