Progression of antral and body gastritis in patients with active and healed duodenal ulcer and duodenitis.

The dynamics of the antral and body mucosa has been studied in biopsy specimens obtained during endoscopy of patients with duodenal ulcer (103 cases), patients with duodenal ulcer scars (108 cases), and patients with duodenitis (44 cases). A representative Finnish population sample consisting of 434 subjects was used as reference material. The antral mucosa of all patient series showed an increase in the severity and prevalence of gastritis similar to that of the general population, whereas virtually no progression of gastritis with age was seen in the body mucosa, which remained normal or at the stage of superficial gastritis up to geriatric age. In contrast, in the present controls and in all earlier population samples studied by us so far, there was a significant and steady increase in the severity and prevalence of body gastritis with age. It is concluded that the age behavior of the antral and body mucosa was in duodenal ulcer scars and duodenitis similar to that of patients with active duodenal ulcer. The persistence of normal conditions in the acid-secreting area may serve as one explanation of the strong tendency of the disease to recur. In addition, it is tentatively concluded that in duodenal ulcer disease there are factors that have a 'protecting' influence on the body glands and which are abolished by antrectomy, according to our earlier studies.