Is gastric mapping needed in the endoscopy of dyspeptic Patients

Background/Aims: Intestinal metaplasia, which is defined as the replacement of normal gastric mucosa by metaplastic intestinal epithelial cells, have been described as premalignant gastric lesion. The aim of our study was detecting, intestinal metaplasia in dyspeptic patient who candidate for upper GI endoscopy. Materials and Methods: Six hundred two consecutive patients with dyspeptic symptoms and indication for upper GI endoscopy were included in the study. Gastric mapping was done for all patients to determine the presence or absence of intestinal metaplasia. All histologic samples were reported according to updated Sydney classification. Results:  61.3% of patients were female. The mean age of patients was 46±15 years. The overall prevalence of intestinal metaplasia was 21.7%. Distribution of intestinal metaplasia in stomach was 15.1% in antrum, 4.3% in body and 2.3% in antrum and body. The prevalence of intestinal metaplasia in age group of 10 to 30 years was less than 5% and in patients over 30 years was 25%. Conclusion:  In our study, more than one-fifth of patients with dyspepsia have intestinal metaplasia. This indicates that, gastric mapping in patients with dyspepsia may lead to discovery of pre-cancerous lesion.