Epithelial dysplasia in endoscopic gastric mucosal biopsies.

To define the frequency of gastric epithelial dysplasia (precancerous lesion), 1463 biopsies from 842 endoscopically studied patients were reassessed. Mild dysplasia was found in 19.9% of the cases, moderate in 4.1%, severe in 0.95%. Since the clinical and biological significance of the lesion is still an open question, indications for follow-up are discussed in the light of personal views, together with a critical evaluation of the recently proposed classifications.