ABSTRACT
A total of 402 cases of endoscopic gastric biopsies were carried out at the Basrah Teaching Hospital. The specimens were remined microscopically for histological diagnosis and to determine the variants of intestinal metaplasia and their significance to various gastric lesions biopsied. Three types of intestinal metaplasia were identified: Type I [Complete Intestinal Metaplasia], Type II [Incomplete Intestinal Metaplasia] and Type III [Incomplete Intestinal Metaplasia with Hyperplastic Epithelium]. Type III intestinal metaplasia was a more significant associated with cases of gastric dysplasia and carcinoma than with those of benign gastric lesions. But no such association was found with either type I or type II intestinal metaplasia. The significance of the different type of entestinal metaplasia in relation to various gastric lesios is discussed