PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - William M Brindle AU - Rebecca K Grant AU - Marianne Smith AU - Meghan Suddaby AU - Angus Wallace AU - Sarah-Louise Gillespie AU - Nicholas I Church AU - Colin L Noble AU - Ian D Penman AU - John N Plevris AU - Alexander R Robertson AU - Eleanor F Watson AU - Christian P Selinger AU - Rahul Kalla AU - Gail S M Masterton ED - , TI - Risk stratifying gastric ulcers: development and validation of a scoring system AID - 10.1136/flgastro-2020-101759 DP - 2022 Mar 01 TA - Frontline Gastroenterology PG - 111--118 VI - 13 IP - 2 4099 - http://fg.bmj.com/content/13/2/111.short 4100 - http://fg.bmj.com/content/13/2/111.full SO - Frontline Gastroenterol2022 Mar 01; 13 AB - Objective Debate is ongoing regarding the need for universal endoscopic follow-up to ensure gastric ulcer healing. We aimed to assess the value of follow-up oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopies (OGDs) for gastric ulcer healing and stratify patients according to risk of malignancy by developing a risk score.Design/method All patients in National Health Service (NHS) Lothian with an index OGD and a diagnosis of gastric ulcer between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2018 were identified. Data were analysed with logistic regression to identify factors significantly associated with a diagnosis of cancer; a risk score was derived and externally validated.Results 778 patients were identified and 60.3% (469/778) of patients had a follow-up OGD. 8.6% (66/778) of patients were diagnosed with cancer. No cases of cancer were found on follow-up OGD of a benign appearing ulcer with negative biopsies. Macroscopic suspicion of malignancy was present at index OGD in 100% (3/3) of those diagnosed with cancer on subsequent OGDs. Older age (p=0.014), increased ulcer size (p<0.001) and non-antral location (p=0.030) were significantly associated with malignancy. A risk score (area under the curve (AUC) 0.868, p<0.001, minimum score=0, maximum score=6) was derived from these variables. 78.0% of patients with malignant ulcers scored ≥3, only 15.8% with benign ulcers scored ≥3 (negative predictive value (NPV) 97.4%). External validation yielded an AUC of 0.862 (p<0.001) and NPV of 98.6%; 84.0% of those with malignant ulcers scored ≥3.Conclusion Ulcers with a combination of macroscopically benign appearances, at least six negative biopsies and a low risk score do not necessarily need endoscopic follow-up.Deidentified data available on request via corresponding author.