Clinical and Endoscopic Presentation of Primary Gastric Lymphoma: An Italian Multicenter Study.

Background. The stomach is the most frequent site of intestinal lymphomas. However, few data are available on the clinical-endoscopic presentation of gastric lymphoma as well as on possible differences in clinical pattern and endoscopic features between low-grade (LG) and high-grade (HG) lymphomas. In this study, we evaluated such aspects on consecutive primary gastric lymphoma patients observed in the last 12 years (1993–2004) in four Italian Hospitals (1 North, 2 Centre, 2 South).

Methods. Clinical, histological, and endocospic records of consecutive patients diagnosed with LG or HG gastric lymphoma were retrieved and accurately evaluated. Symptoms were categorized as “alarm” (anaemia/melaena/heamorrage, persistent vomiting, weight loss) or “no alarm” (epigastric/abdominal pain, heartburn, dyspepsia/bloating). The endoscopic findings were classified as “normal” (no macroscopic lesions) or “abnormal” (ulcer, erosions, nodular pattern, hypertrophic folds, polypoid mass). Statistical analysis was carried out by using the Chi squared test.

Results. During the study period, 143 patients with primary gastric lymphoma were detected. Overall, 61 patients were observed in the first 6 years and 82 in the last 6 years. The main results of the study are summarized in the table 1.

Conclusions. The incidence of primary gastric lymphoma seems to be increasing. The overall prevalence of alarm symptoms is quite low, and they may be absent in near 75% of LG lymphoma patients. Moreover, contrarily to HG, LG lymphoma may present as a normal endoscopic finding and it is more frequently associated with H. pylori infection. At diagnosis, HG lymphoma is more frequently detected in an advanced stage as compared to LG lymphoma.