Nine cases of acute gastric anisakiasis

From 1983 to 1988, we treated 19 patients with acute gastritis which was highly suggestive of gastritis anisakiasis. Almost all of these patients complained of sharp, periodic, upper abdominal pains which occurred several hours after ingestion of raw fish. Among the 19 patients, 10 anisakis larvae from nine patients were successfully removed by endoscopic forceps. However, in the remaining 10 patients, who also showed the typical clinical course of anisakiasis, we could not find the anisakis larvae endoscopically. All 10 larvae were identified as stage III, anisakis type 1. The intolerable pain was relieved as soon as endoscopic removal of the larvae was accomplished in all nine patients. The purpose of this article was to report the clinical findings and emphasize the importance of early endoscopic management of acute gastric anisakiasis.