Gastritis

Snapshot

A 55-year-old woman with a history of osteoarthritis comes into her primary care physician’s office with a complaint of new indigestion. She notes that, for the past week or so, she has been experiencing discomfort in her upper abdomen, associated with meals. This has not affected her appetite, and she has not vomited up any blood or experienced any weight loss. She denies any heartburn symptoms or substance use. Her past medical history is noteworthy for osteoarthritis in her knees, and she says she has been taking naproxen as prescribed everyday for the past year and a half. She takes no other medications and is otherwise relatively healthy. (Acute gastritis)

Introduction

An inflammatory condition of the stomach
No universally accepted classification system
- the updated Sydney system (1996) is most commonly used in clinical setting based on presence of nonatrophic or atrophic tissue
Most classification systems still distiguish by time course in order to characterize inflammatory cell infiltrate most likely present
- acute (erosive)
  - protective mucosal barrier is disrupted resulting in inflammation
  - represented by neutrophilic infiltration
  - a result of
    - NSAIDs
      - ↓ gastric mucosa production via ↓ PGE₂
      - consider in patients with chronic pain conditions
    - EtOH
      - common in alcoholics
    - uremia
    - burns → Curling’s ulcer
    - brain injury
      - ↑ vagal stimulation results in ↑ H⁺ production
    - Anisakis worm infestation
- chronic (non-erosive)
  - marked by mix of mononuclear cells (plasma cells, lymphocytes, macrophages)
  - there are 2 types based on location
    - Type A (fundus/body)
      - pernicious anemia is most common cause
        associated with macrocytic anemia
        ↓ acid production (achlorhydria) resulting in hypergastrinemia
      - also associated with other autoimmune conditions (e.g. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis)
      - ↑ risk for gastric carcinoma
    - Type B (antrum/pylorus)
      - caused by infection (H. pylori, herpes, CMV)
      - also caused by chronic NSAID use
↑ risk of MALT lymphoma and adenocarcinoma

Presentation

Evaluation

Treatment