Comparison of snare and large forceps biopsies in the histologic diagnosis of gastric vascular ectasia in cirrhosis.

To compare snare and large forceps biopsies in the histologic diagnosis of gastric vascular ectasia (GVE) in cirrhosis, two groups of patients were studied: (a) 8 cirrhotic patients in whom endoscopy disclosed multiple gastric red spots (GRS), and (b) 5 cirrhotic patients with no GRS. Histologic examination of snare specimens identified dilated capillaries in the mucosa of the stomach in 75% of the cirrhotic patients with GRS, while large forceps specimens enabled the diagnosis of GVE only in 20% of the cases (p less than 0.05). Morphometric analysis of snare specimens demonstrated a significantly greater mean mucosal capillary cross-sectional area in cirrhotic patients with GRS than in cirrhotic patients without these lesions (p less than 0.05), while no differences in this parameter was observed in large forceps specimens. These findings indicate that gastric mucosal specimens obtained with large forceps are not useful for establishing the histologic diagnosis of GVE in cirrhotic patients with GRS.