[Epithelial gastric polyps in a series of 13000 gastroscopies]

The frequency and characteristics of epithelial gastric polyps were studied over a 4-years periods. In a series of 13,000 gastric fibroscopies, 191 patients (1.3 per cent) were fund to have a "polypous lesion". Among these, 48 had hyperplastic polyps, 19 had fundic gland polyps and 6 had adenomatous polyps. The remaining patients had either lesions of interstitial gastritis (118) or normal histology (34). Hyperplastic polyps were 5 mm large in 87 per cent of the cases, and 7 out of 10 were solitary. They were equally distributed between fundus and antrum and associated with atrophic gastritis in 9 out of 22 cases. In 2 cases, they were accompanied with gastric cancer. Fundic gland polyps were less than 5 mm large in 84 per cent of the cases and solitary in 5 out of 19 cases. Adenomatous polyps were associated with hyperplastic polyps in 4 patients, including 1 mixed polyp (hyperplastic containing adenomatous areas). Follow-up with regular endoscopic examinations is accepted for adenomatous polyps; it seems to be justified in patients with hyperplastic polyps, and lesions bigger than 10 mm should be removed in view of the as yet imperfectly evaluated risk of malignant degeneration.