Categorized: Abstracts & Presentations, Gastroenterology
Lymphocytic Gastritis: A Distinct Nosologic Entity or A Histopathologic Expression of Other Conditions?
Lymphocytic gastritis (LG) is characterized by infiltration of the gastric foveolar epithelium by at least 25 lymphocytes per 100 epithelial cells, regardless of the inflammation in the lamina propria.1 This entity was initially associated with a form of severely erosive nodular gastritis (varioliform gastritis).2 Later, it became clear that many patients with LG have mild erosions or even a normal appearing endoscopy. Furthermore, a group in Brazil found no correlation between the presence of varioliform gastritis and lymphocytic gastritis.3
Increase in the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes can occur in association with other conditions such as Helicobacter pylori infection, syphilis, celiac sprue, microscopic colitis and NSAID users.4-5 LG is occasionally associated with mild nonspecific dyspeptic symptoms as well. Thus, LG is used as a histopathologic pattern with no strong correlation with a particular disease entity.
Failure to detect consistent clinicopathologic correlations may be due to several factors, including the small size of the study samples.
View the poster here.
