Cystic 'hamartomatous' gastric polyps: a disorder of oxyntic glands.

In 1977, Elster et al. described gastric polyps of a new type. These polyps were formed of fundic glandular cysts in otherwise normal gastric mucosa. In this paper a series of 52 cases of this type of polyp are presented. In addition to cysts, polyps contained deformed oxyntic glands and areas where the formation of secondary irregular glands occurred from cysts and from the existing glands. However, all glands and cysts in polyps were composed of normal, but intermixed cells of oxyntic type, suggesting that deranged differentiation of otherwise normal oxyntic glands is the basic mechanism in the pathogenesis of these polyps. Based on these observations, the polyps were considered most likely to be epithelial hamartomas. In agreement with the findings of Elster et al., the present cases showed typical clinical characteristics: three-quarters of patients were females with a peak prevalence in the fifth and sixth decades. Polyps were most often multiple and occurred only in the oxyntic mucosa of the stomach.