Histopathological spectrum of lesions of upper gastrointestinal tract – A study of endoscopic biopsies

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are one of the most commonly encountered health problems in routine clinical practice. Dietary, environmental, geographic, and genetic factors are some of the key reasons contributing to the prevalence of these diseases. A wide spectrum of lesions is observed on histopathological examination of the upper GI tract (GIT). Aims and Objective: The study was carried out to determine the histopathological spectrum of upper GIT lesions and to compare the lesions with demographic and clinical data. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on all consecutive upper GI endoscopic biopsies received in the Department of Pathology, Narendra Modi Medical College, Ahmedabad during the period from August 2020 to October 2022. Results: Non-neoplastic lesions were observed in 91.3% of all upper GI biopsies. Among these, gastric lesions (63.3%) were the most common followed by duodenal lesions (21.3%) and esophageal lesions (6.6%). The most commonly observed non-neoplastic lesions from the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum were reflux esophagitis with its consequence Barrett’s esophagus, chronic gastritis, and chronic duodenitis, respectively. Neoplastic lesions were observed in 8.7% of all upper GI biopsies; out of which 4% were esophageal, 3.3% were gastric and 1.3% were duodenal. The most commonly observed neoplastic lesions from the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum were squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, adenocarcinoma of the stomach, and adenocarcinoma of duodenum, respectively. Conclusion: Endoscopic biopsy examination followed by histopathologic assessment is a convenient procedure and current gold standard for the accurate diagnosis of patients with upper GIT lesions.