[Prevalence of the various types of gastritis in patients with upper dyspeptic symptoms]

Multiple site biopsy specimens from 153 patients were examined retrospectively for the presence of gastritis and Helicobacter-like organisms (HLO). Chronic gastritis was classified as superficial gastritis, diffuse antral gastritis, postgastrectomy (reflux) gastritis, diffuse corporal atrophic gastritis, and multifocal atrophic gastritis. In some cases technical problems did not make possible to define the type of chronic gastritis and we introduce the terms unclassified gastritis and minimal inflammatory changes to name those cases. In our opinion they represent superficial biopsies from cases of diffuse antral gastritis. Diffuse antral gastritis was found in 60% of patients followed by multifocal atrophic gastritis found in 20% of patients. HLO was searched in histological sections stained by a modified Giemsa stain. The typical curved bacilli were seen in the gastric mucus or closely attached to the top of superficial or foveolar epithelial cells in 83% of patients. Although we have noted high correlation between activity of chronic gastritis and infection by HLO such correlation was not possible between the degree of activity and the degree of infection.