Dysplasia in gastric mucosa: prognostic significance.

Forty-seven patients having dysplasia in biopsies from the gastric mucosa were subjected to re-investigation. Twenty-three patients were alive at follow-up and 14 underwent gastroscopy with removal of random biopsies. The median duration of observation was 39 months, range 10-63 months. Regression of the dysplasia was found in all patients; in nine there was normal mucosa without dysplastic alterations in the control biopsies, mild dysplasia was still present in five of the patients. Our results suggest that the incidental finding of mild or moderate dysplasia does not, per se, indicate the necessity of further control, whereas severe dysplasia indicates repeat gastroscopies with biopsies, as such epithelial changes can occur together with gastric carcinoma.