Heterotopic and metaplastic gastric mucosa in the duodenum

The presence of gastric epithelium or mucosa at any level of the gastrointestinal tract is a well-known phenomenon. In duodenal mucosa, congenital heterotopic gastric mucosa or acquired metaplastic gastric surface epithelium (MGE) may be found. In the present study 325 duodenal biopsies (260 upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and 65 abdominal surgery biopsies) from 297 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Normal duodenal mucosa was present in 119 specimens, duodenitis in 155 and duodenal ulcer in 51. Heterotopic gastric mucosa was present in only one patient with duodenal ulcer, and MGE in 31% of the biopsies with a normal mucosa, in 21.7% with duodenitis and in 82% with duodenal ulcer (P less than 0.01). MGE was present in 120 biopsies of 109 patients--68 men and 41 women, 91% Jews, and 9% Arabs. The hospitalized population of our region comprised 82% Jews and 18% Arabs. Duodenal ulcer was more frequently found in Arab (69%) than in Jewish patients (41%). We conclude that MGE is a common finding, even in the presence of normal duodenal mucosa (30%) and occurs in most (80%) duodenal ulcer cases. The fact that MGE is more frequent in the Jewish population suggests that a genetic factor may be involved.