Clinical Experience of Adult Nodular Gastritis: A Hospital Base Study

Aim Nodular gastritis is not a common clinical entity. We want to investigate the
clinical manifestations of adult nodular gastritis in Taiwanese patients. Methods
Patients over 18 years of age with varying degrees of discomfort and who had
undergone esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) by an experienced endoscopist at Taipei Medical University Hospital from March 1, 1997 to February 28, 2005, were enrolled. A Campylobacter-like organism (CLO) test was done for identification of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. The clinical features of adult nodular gastritis were analyzed in this study. Results A total of 8,137 patients underwent 10,293 EGD examinations during this period, and nodular gastritis was diagnosed in 30 women and 13 men. The incidence of adult nodular gastritis was about 0.5% (43/8137). More female (69.7%) patients were affected. More than 40% of the patients had peptic ulcer disease and more than 80% complained of epigastralgia at presentation. A CLO test was positive in 88.4% of these patients. The gastric antrum was always affected (100%). Pathology always revealed intense inflammation and 60% had lymphoid follicular hyperplasia. Remission of the gastric antral nodularity after eradication of H. pylori was also found. Conclusion Adult nodular gastritis is a rare clinical entity in Taiwan. Careful endoscopic examination may be required. It has a strong association with H. pylori infection. H. pylori eradication may improve
nodular gastritis..