Areae gastricae and gastritis in double contrast barium meal

The areae gastricae were studied in patients with different forms of gastritis and with normal gastric mucosa. The material consisted of 57 patients. First gastroscopy was done and biopsies were taken. The stomach was studied on the following day by the double contrast barium meal. The material was divided according to the gastroscopic and biopsy findings into the following groups: normal, superficial gastritis, mixed gastritis, and atrophic gastritis. In the analysis of the surface pattern, special attention was paid to the shape, size and defects of areae gastricae. Corpus and antrum were dealt with separately. In the normal material the areae gastricae were regular in shape, and the size was usually 1--3 mm. Irregular shape, bigger size and more frequent defect areas seemed to point to gastritis. Such changes were especially clear in atrophic gastritis. The significance of the areae gastricae in practice is discussed.