Is chronic gastritis a reversible process? Follow-up study of gastritis by step-wise biopsy.

In 36 patients step-wise biopsies of gastric mucosa were performed in 1971 and in 1974/75. A comparison of the histological changes revealed identical findings in 15, progression of superficial gastritis in 9 and regression of superficial gastritis in 7. In 5 patients regression of chronic atrophic gastritis was seen. In one patient an essentially normal mucosa was found in all biopsy specimens, in other patients parietal cells reappeared without any specific therapy.