Gastritis
An inflammation of the gastric mucosa, gastritis may be acute or chronic. Acute gastritis produces mucosal reddening, edema, hemorrhage, and erosion. Chronic gastritis is common among elderly people and those with pernicious anemia. It’s commonly pres-ent as chronic atrophic gastritis, in which all stomach mucosal layers are inflamed, with reduced numbers of chief and parietal cells.
Causes
Acute and chronic gastritis vary in causative factors.
Acute gastritis
Acute gastritis is commonly caused by infection, such as with Helicobacter pylori, or with other acute infecting organisms.
Chronic gastritis
Chronic atrophic gastritis may be Type A, resulting from autoimmune factors and found predominantly in the body of the stomach, or Type B, resulting from H. pylori and found predominantly in the antral part of the stomach.
Signs and symptoms
The patient with acute gastritis typically reports a rapid onset of symptoms, such as epigastric discomfort, indigestion, cramping, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and hematemesis. The symptoms last from a few hours to a few days. A patient with chronic gastritis may complain of similar symptoms or mild epigastric pain.
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