[Gastric mucosal polyps--an irrelevant finding? Studies on the incidence and clinical significance]

Among about 20.000 patients who had a gastroscopy in a period of 6 years, 92 had gastric mucosal polyposis, diagnosed by endoscopy and histology, an incidence of 0.46%. Eight patients with an age average of 38 years had familial gastrointestinal adenomatosis, in six of them the criteria of Gardner's disease were fulfilled. The remaining 84 patients had an average age of 62 years. In patients with more than ten polyps the sex ratio (female to male) was 3.9:1. In 56 patients without familial gastrointestinal adenomatosis, coloscopy and(or) proctosigmoidoscopy was performed. In 18 there were polyps in the colon, in three an invasive carcinoma in an adenoma. In three further patients extensive carcinoma of the colon (in two with stenosis) was found. These observations suggest that patients with gastric mucosal polyposis have a higher incidence of colon polyps and carcinoma.