Endoscopic Grading of Atrophic Gastritis is Inversely Associated with Gastroesophageal Reflux and Gastropharyngeal Reflux

BACKGROUND: Reflux esophagitis is inversely associated with the presence of atrophic gastritis, and endoscopic grading of atrophic gastritis correlates with histological evaluation. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of the endoscopic grade of atrophic gastritis with gastroesophageal and gastropharyngeal reflux. METHODS: A total of 627 patients, who underwent endoscopy and ambulatory 24-hour dual-probe pH monitoring, were included in this study. The grade of atrophic gastritis was endoscopically classified into 2 types with the atrophic pattern system: the closed-type (C-type) and the open-type (O-type). We compared the findings from endoscopy and ambulatory pH monitoring for these 2 types. RESULTS: The O-type was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of reflux esophagitis (p=0.001). All variables showing gastroesophageal reflux in the distal probe were significantly lower in the O-type than in the C-type (p<0.05). Similarly for the proximal probe, all variables, except the supine time of pH<4, were significantly lower in the O-type than in the C-type (p<0.05). The frequency of gastroesophageal reflux disease and gastropharyngeal reflux disease was in significantly lower in the O-type than in the C-type (p<0.001, p=0.012, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic grading of atrophic gastritis is easy and is inversely associated with gastroesophageal and gastropharyngeal reflux.