Endoscopic Grading of Intestinal Metaplasia

Endoscopic Grading of Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia: a Validation Study in Korea

Long-term Helicobacter pylori infection causes premalignant gastric conditions, such as atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia. Image-enhanced endoscopy techniques such as narrow-band imaging (NBI) and magnifying endoscopy improve the diagnosis of gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM). However, there are no comparative data on the utility of NBI and magnifying endoscopy for diagnosing GIM.

This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of NBI and magnifying endoscopy for GIM in a country with high risk of gastric premalignant lesions.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Gastroscopy can be performed
• Pathological analysis can be performed for analysis of gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age < 20 or > 80 years
• Anemia (serum hemoglobin level < 10 g/dL)
• Severe systemic disease
• Advanced chronic liver disease
• Use of certain medications, including proton pump inhibitors, H2-receptor antagonists, or antibiotics
• History of H. pylori eradication
• History of gastric surgery
• Recent history of upper gastrointestinal bleeding