Five year follow-up study of gastritis.

This paper describes a five year follow-up study of the incidence and course of gastritis affecting the antrum and body of the stomach of 50 patients, most of whom presented with non-ulcer dyspepsia and a few with peptic ulceration. We have shown that antral gastritis, like gastritis affecting the fundus, becomes more severe in a proportion of patients as time goes by. Perhaps more important is the increased severity and progression of atrophic and metaplastic change in the antrum compared with the fundus. The significance of these changes with regard to the development of peptic ulceration and malignancy is discussed.