Scope found erythematous mucosa in the antrum: What does it mean?

Posted by mariahann @mariahann, Apr 11, 2023

Hello!
I just had a third upper endoscopy, and a colonoscopy. They found "erythematous mucosa in the antrum" and they're doing a biopsy. Does anyone here know what that means in layman's terms? Any help figuring out what the possibilities are in this situation? It's not that bad, right?
Thank you!!

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Pamrod2 have you seen a hematologist

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@karen519

Pamrod2 have you seen a hematologist

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yes

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Antrum is stomach. It means acid caused your stomach lining to become inflamed and red, which can cause cancer. I was just diagnosed with the same, and doctor did biopsy. I don't even feel the burning feeling of acid in my throat or chest. She will probably prescribe H2 Blockers which I can't take as I will have SIBO, as these meds reduces gas and acid, and as a result SIBO.

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From what I’ve learned, it’s not the stomach acid that inflames. It’s using NASIDS, drinking alcohol, bacterial infection, stress, other medications that breakdown the mucous lining of the stomach that then the stomach acid can affect. We need gastric juices to digest our food.
H2Blockers or PPI’s block acid and long term usage can cause side effects. That happened to me and I was told by the GI doc to never take a blocker or PPI again as my stomach cells were hypertrophic, meaning enlarged.

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@ritamorris

Yes, I have more then one issue with my gi tract and was need help understanding to my path results although I know it's benign. but I am wanting to know if it is fixable my results are

Stomach, endoscopic biopsy:
REACTIVE GASTROPATHY.
- Histologic sections reveal gastric antral and fundic (oxyntic) type
mucosa with reactive foveolar hyperplasia and minimal-to-mild chronic
inflammation. These histologic changes are consistent with
chemical-type injury such as can be seen with NSAIDs, alcohol, and bile
reflux.
- Immunoperoxid
ase stain for Helicobacter pylori is negative.
- No intestinal metaplasia is identified (confirmed by PAS/Alcian
blue stain).

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By now, hopefully you've had a chance to discuss with your doctor. But for others, here is a translation of the results into more familiar terms.
REACTIVE GASTROPATHY: means something wrong with the stomach that appears to be a reaction to (contact with) something, as opposed to being due to infection or cancer or due to something physically or chemically disrupting it.

Histologic sections: are slices of tissue, usually fixed (treated to prevent degradation), embedded in a clear, solid material (to make slicing easier), mounted on a glass slide, stained (to make it easier to see and distinguish different structures), and viewed under a microscope.

Gastric antral and fundal type mucosa: mucosa is the inner lining of the stomach. The sections (slices) show the type of lining that is found in two anatomical areas of the stomach - the antrum and the fundus.

Reactive foveolar hyperplasia: means that the stomach lining is thicker and has deeper and more numerous folds than normal, and that the changes are typical of a reaction to (contact with) something.

Chronic inflammation: means changes are seen that suggest inflammation has been going on for weeks, months, or years.

Histologic changes: changes seen under the microscope.

NSAIDS: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin), naproxen (Naprosyn), or others. All of these compounds can be very irritating to the stomach.

Bile reflux: Bile is a liquid normally produced by the liver, stored in the gallbladder (which is below the liver, connected by a duct), and excreted through a duct into the first part of the small intestine. It helps to emulsify fats in the small intestine so they can be digested and absorbed. Just as strong soap is very irritating to the skin, so bile is very irritating to the stomach lining. There is a muscular valve between the bottom of the stomach and the beginning of the small intestine, that normally only allows partially digested food to travel in only one direction - out of the stomach and into the small intestine. Under certain circumstances, the valve may allow intestinal contents, including bile, to move backward into the stomach. That is called bile reflux.

Immunoperoxidase stain: a type of histologic stain that uses antibodies to target specific structures for staining (in this case, a bacterium) so that they can be seen under the microscope.

Helicobacter pylori: a type of bacterium that is known to cause gastritis and ulcers of the stomach and/or the first part of the small intestine (the duodenum).

Negative: the stained slides showed no evidence of the Helicobacter pylori bacterium.

Intestinal metaplasia: means abnormal development of the cells of the stomach, such that under the microscope, they look more like cells of the small intestine. This type of change is sometimes seen after a long period of exposure of the stomach lining to conditions that are more commonly seen in the small intestine (such as could happen with severe bile reflux over an extended period of time).
Abnormal cell development as seen under the microscope can be a precursor to cancerous changes.

PAS/Alcian blue stain: another histologic stain, one which clearly shows the difference between cells that secrete mucus and cells that do not secrete mucus, making it easier to tell if intestinal metaplasia is present.
No intestinal metaplasia was seen on the slides in this study.

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@rprastein

By now, hopefully you've had a chance to discuss with your doctor. But for others, here is a translation of the results into more familiar terms.
REACTIVE GASTROPATHY: means something wrong with the stomach that appears to be a reaction to (contact with) something, as opposed to being due to infection or cancer or due to something physically or chemically disrupting it.

Histologic sections: are slices of tissue, usually fixed (treated to prevent degradation), embedded in a clear, solid material (to make slicing easier), mounted on a glass slide, stained (to make it easier to see and distinguish different structures), and viewed under a microscope.

Gastric antral and fundal type mucosa: mucosa is the inner lining of the stomach. The sections (slices) show the type of lining that is found in two anatomical areas of the stomach - the antrum and the fundus.

Reactive foveolar hyperplasia: means that the stomach lining is thicker and has deeper and more numerous folds than normal, and that the changes are typical of a reaction to (contact with) something.

Chronic inflammation: means changes are seen that suggest inflammation has been going on for weeks, months, or years.

Histologic changes: changes seen under the microscope.

NSAIDS: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin), naproxen (Naprosyn), or others. All of these compounds can be very irritating to the stomach.

Bile reflux: Bile is a liquid normally produced by the liver, stored in the gallbladder (which is below the liver, connected by a duct), and excreted through a duct into the first part of the small intestine. It helps to emulsify fats in the small intestine so they can be digested and absorbed. Just as strong soap is very irritating to the skin, so bile is very irritating to the stomach lining. There is a muscular valve between the bottom of the stomach and the beginning of the small intestine, that normally only allows partially digested food to travel in only one direction - out of the stomach and into the small intestine. Under certain circumstances, the valve may allow intestinal contents, including bile, to move backward into the stomach. That is called bile reflux.

Immunoperoxidase stain: a type of histologic stain that uses antibodies to target specific structures for staining (in this case, a bacterium) so that they can be seen under the microscope.

Helicobacter pylori: a type of bacterium that is known to cause gastritis and ulcers of the stomach and/or the first part of the small intestine (the duodenum).

Negative: the stained slides showed no evidence of the Helicobacter pylori bacterium.

Intestinal metaplasia: means abnormal development of the cells of the stomach, such that under the microscope, they look more like cells of the small intestine. This type of change is sometimes seen after a long period of exposure of the stomach lining to conditions that are more commonly seen in the small intestine (such as could happen with severe bile reflux over an extended period of time).
Abnormal cell development as seen under the microscope can be a precursor to cancerous changes.

PAS/Alcian blue stain: another histologic stain, one which clearly shows the difference between cells that secrete mucus and cells that do not secrete mucus, making it easier to tell if intestinal metaplasia is present.
No intestinal metaplasia was seen on the slides in this study.

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So sorry to hear what you are going through.
Thank you for all the discriptive explanations.
Going through some very serious gastro problems. Was in the emergency roon last week.
Appt with a new gastroenterologist. I will keep everyone in the loop. I have a hiatal hernia that is aggravating digestion.
Take care everyone. Praying for everyone for good health in the new year.
Colleenp

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