Atrophic Gastritis: Pathophysiology and Etiology

ABSTRACT

In Korea, a lot of Helicobacter pylori infection, atrophic gastritis (AG) is very important due to AG is a well-established precursor of intestinal gastric cancer. H. pylori is a major risk factor for AG. In addition, environmental and host factors are also considered as risk factors, however, autoimmune induced AG is rare. In Korea, prevalence of AG is approximately 30% and gastric cancer occurs in AG at about 1% per year. Therefore, endoscopic screening less than every two year is recommended. In accordance with these aspects, decreasing the occurrence or progression of AG by treating H. pylori infection should be considered.