Oesophagitis in Italian and Hungarian asymptomatic subjects

It is known that chronic inflammatory phenomena of the gastric mucosa fairly often occur in asymptomatic subjects. Starting from this fact, the authors decided to investigate possible non-symptomatic oesophageal inflammatory lesions referable to oesophagitis and any other digestive and/or systemic pathology. Furthermore it was also intended to ascertain the possible existence of geographical differences. 108 subjects, 65 Italians and 43 Hungarians, were studied. The endoscopic examination revealed congestion of the lower third of the oesophageal tract in 5 Italians out of 65, whereas all the Hungarians presented normal oesophageal findings. The histological examination showed inflammatory lesions in 13 Italians and 10 Hungarians. The incidence of lesions was higher in the fifth and the sixth decade of life. The results suggest that oesophageal inflammatory lesions are fairly frequent in asymptomatic subjects, with no significant differences between the two groups considered; the role of the histological bioptic investigation in the diagnosis of oesophageal inflammatory lesions is underlined.