To the Editor.—
To evaluate the clinical significance of benign gastric polyps, we conducted an 11-year retrospective study reviewing clinical data on 95 patients.
Study. —
The information retrieved included demographic, clinical, endoscopic, pathological, and roentgenographic data at both presentation and follow-up. Serial semiannual gastroscopy was performed.The ages of the 95 patients ranged from 19 to 95 years, with peak prevalence in the seventh and eighth decades of life. Most patients were investigated because of nonspecific symptoms: abdominal pain (38.9%), chronic anemia (23.1%), and weakness (8.4%). The remainder presented with anorexia, peripheral neuropathy, or hematemesis.Complete medical records were available for 76 patients, 68 of whom took barium meal tests, disclosing gastric polyps in 47 patients. In 36 of the 76 patients a barium enema examination was performed. In 23 of these patients the results were normal, in 12 patients diverticula were found, and in 1 patient multiple colonic