FREQUENCY AND HISTOPATHOLOGIC FEATURES OF CHRONIC GASTRITIS IN 300 PATIENTS WITHOUT ENDOSCOPIC LESIONS

Three gastric mucosal biopsies were obtained from 300 patients showing a normal upper digestive tract endoscopy. Histologically, in 9% of th e patients the biopsies were normal; in 87% showed a common-type chron ic gastritis, and in 4% showed a reactive (chemical or reflux-type) ga stritis. Helicobacter pylori was present in 25.9% of the patients with out gastritis, in 33.3% of the patients with reactive gastritis, and i n 87.7% of those with common-type gastritis. In 19.9% of the patients with common-type chronic gastritis there was intestinal metaplasia, co nsisting of type I metaplasia in 14.1%, type II in 3.1% and type III m etaplasia in 2.3%. The association of type III intestinal metaplasia w ith the other forms of metaplasia, its lower frequency and its tendenc y to be present in older patients supports the hipothesis that type II I incomplete colonic metaplasia represents a more advanced stage than complete and incomplete small bowel metaplasia of the gastric mucosa.