Chronic gastritis and old age: a problem or not?

The objective of the paper is to study the clinical and functional characteristics of chronic H. pylori-associated gastritis in the elderly patients. Materials and Methods. A group of elderly patients (n=116) (aged 69.5±3.2) with chronic H. pylori-associated gastritis was formed during a prospective clinical study. All patients underwent esophagogastrodu-odenoscopy with biopsy. OLGA staging system was used for histological assessment. The dyspeptic index (DI) was used to measure dyspepsia. The patients were followed up for 48 weeks. Results. Dyspepsia was found only in 41.3 % of patients, while 58.7 % of patients had asymptomatic disease progression. Atrophic changes in the gastric mucosa were found in 30.1 % of the trial subjects. The efficacy of the eradication therapy was 88.7 %. During the study, the endoscopic picture of the gastroduodenal zone improved. There was no progression of atrophic and metaplastic changes in the gastric mucosa. Conclusion. Thus, in elderly patients, chronic H. pylori-associated gastritis is often asymptomatic. Eradication of H. pylori infection promotes disease remission and prevents morphological changes in the gastric mucosa.