AIM: To analyze the contribution of Orvosi Hetilap (Hungarian Medical Joal) to the field of gastroenterology. METHODS: All issues of the joal between 1857 and 2008 and identified original articles and reviews dealing with gastroenterology were reviewed. The rate of publications, the thematic distribution and foreign sources of knowledge were assessed. The dates that major achievements in gastroenterology were introduced in Hungary were compared to those dates in West medicine. RESULTS: A total of 4799 original/research articles on gastroenterology were published, which represents 11.1% of the total publications. Thematic rankings showed that liver and biliary diseases represented 20.36% of the total, followed by gastric diseases (9.35%) and surgery (8.77%). A total of 268 foreign joals were reviewed: 50.9% were German, 30.4% English, 12.1% French and only 6.6% were in other languages. The major achievements of gastroenterology were introduced with varying delays compared to West countries. CONCLUSION: Orvosi Hetilap has made a large contribution to the development of Hungarian gastroenterolgastroenterology. The high proportion of gastroenterology studies underlines the importance of digestive diseases in public health.