Korean J Gastroenterol.  2009 Jan;53(1):23-28.

The Clinical Usefulness of Focally Enhanced Gastritis in Korean Patients with Crohn's Disease

• Hong CH
• Park DI
• Choi WH
• Park JH
• Kim HJ
• Cho YK
• Sohn CI
• Jeon WK
• Kim BI
• Kim DH
• Kim MK
• Chae SW
• Lee KB
• Sohn JH
• Oh SJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Focally enhanced gastritis (FEG) has been suggested as a specific diagnostic marker for patients with Crohn's disease (CD). However, the usefulness of FEG for distinguishing CD from ulcerative colitis (UC) is uncertain and the incidence or prevalence of FEG for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in Korea has not been defined yet. In this study, we investigated the frequency of FEG and other gastric histological abnormalities in Korean patients with CD and UC.
METHODS
We evaluated 37 patients with known CD, 43 patients with UC and 41 non-IBD control group; all underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy followed by biopsy from the antrum and the body. The pathology of the gastric biopsy specimens and the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) were evaluated. FEG was characterized by a focal perifoveolar or periglandular inflammatory cell infiltrates.
RESULTS
H. pylori positive gastritis was found in 10 of 37 (27.0%) of CD patients, in 16 of 43 (37.2%) of UC patients, and in 22 of 41 (53.7%) of non-IBD control group (p=0.054). In H. pylori-negative patients, FEG was found in 8 of 27 patients (29.6%) of CD patients, 6 of 27 (22.2%) patients with UC, and 2 of 9 (10.5%) of non-IBD control group (p=0.324).
CONCLUSIONS
In H. pylori-negative patients, there was no statistically significant difference in the occurrence of FEG among CD, UC and control groups in Korea.

Keyword

Crohn's disease; Ulcerative colitis; Focally enhanced gastritis; Inflammatory bowel disease

MeSH Terms

Adult
Colitis, Ulcerative/*diagnosis/etiology/pathology
Crohn Disease/*diagnosis/etiology/pathology
Female
Gastritis/epidemiology/*pathology
Gastroscopy
Humans
Korea/epidemiology
Male
Middle Aged
Upper Gastrointestinal Tract/pathology