No abstract

Background. Only a few reported studies focus on the natural history and course of advanced and severe chronic atrophic gastritis. Methods. In this study we followed 47 men (mean age 62 years) with advanced (moderate or severe) Helicobacter pylori-positive atrophic corpus gastritis. Duration of endoscopic follow-up was 6 years and follow-up based on serum levels of pepsinogen I and antibodies to H. pylori covered a period of 10 years. None of the patients was treated for H. pylori infection prior to end of follow-up. Results. The median H. pylori antibody titre declined (IgG from 4000 to 1300; IgA from 200 to 50) in the study population, and 11 men (23%) converted to seronegative (p=0.0005, Fisher's exact test). There was a small but significant (p=0.0004, Page's test) declining trend in mean atrophy score of the corpus during follow-up (from 2.5 to 2.2). However, no significant changes were observed in grade of atrophy or intestinal metaplasia of the antral mucosa or in grade of intestinal metaplasia in the corpus. The mean SPGI level remained at the initial low level during the entire follow-up. Conclusions. H. pylori antibodies disappear spontaneously within 10 years in almost one fourth of patients with advanced atrophic corpus gastritis. The disappearance of H. pylori antibodies is accompanied by no or more than a mild improvement of the gastric mucosa.

In patients with demonstrated peritoneal violation, laparoscopy offers little benefit over exploratory laparotomy. In patients with equivocal peritoneal penetration on local wound exploration, laparoscopy detects more mostly minor organ injuries than expectant nonoperative management but is associated with increased hospital stay, costs, and sick leave requirements. Overall, diagnostic laparoscopy cannot be recommended as a routine diagnostic tool in anterolateral abdominal and thoracoabdominal stab wounds.

In patients with acute abdominal pain seen in the emergency department, a negative dipstick test for urinary trypsinogen-2 rules out acute pancreatitis with a high degree of probability. A positive test usually identifies patients in need of further evaluation.