[The glandular cyst, a polypoid lesion of the gastric mucosa (author's transl)].

Confusion in the nomenclature of gastric polyps and the resulting uncertainties regarding prognosis and treatment have made a new classification necessary, consisting of focal hyperplasia, polyp of manifold aetiology, adenoma, and benign hyperplasiogenic polyp, the latter the most common one, found only in the stomach. But 110 cases of polypoid mucosal changes could not be classified. These "polyps" grow to be at most 8 mm in diameter and are characterized histologically by non-inflammatory cysts of varying size located within the intact fundal glands. Possible causes are hamartoma or functional secretory disorders. These glandular cysts have not previously been described. They do not fit the pattern of cystic gastritis. The clinical significance lies in the differentiation from gastric polyposis.