What are the other Names for this Condition? (Also known as/Synonyms)

• Gastric Inflammatory Polyps
• Hyperplastic Polyps of Stomach
• Inflammatory Polyps of Stomach

What is Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps? (Definition/Background Information)

• Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps, as the name suggests, are polyps that occur in the stomach, especially in the antrum region
• In a vast majority of cases, these polyps are benign
• Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps are normally asymptomatic and detected during an endoscopic procedure
• There are a few subtypes of Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps, and these include:
  • Polypoid foveolar hyperplasia: These are usually less than 1 cm in size, consisting of elongated gastric glands without significant dilatation
  • Mucosal prolapse polyp: It usually has thick-walled blood vessels with arborizing thick bundles of smooth muscles in the lamina propria
  • Gastritis cystic polyposa (profunda): These are benign polyps that show hyperplasia of the gastric glands with cystic dilatation. They are known to occur near the stoma of Billroth II anastomosis procedure as a reactive process

Incidence:

• These polyps usually occur in the 6th or 7th decade (between ages 50 and 70 years); median age of occurrence is 66 years
• Both males and females are at risk and no gender predilection is noted

Risk factors and Cause:

• The risk factors for Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps include a long history of gastritis
• The exact cause of formation of these polyps is currently unknown
• They are usually associated with chronic gastritis, especially from post-gastrectomy gastritis and Helicobacter pylori gastritis
• The polyps are believed to occur as a reactive process from tissue injury of the stomach lining
• Occasionally, mutations in p53 gene may be noted

Signs and symptoms:

• Many polyps are asymptomatic and do not cause any significant signs and symptoms
• Typically, a single polyp may be noted; but occasionally, there can be multiple polyps
• These polyps are usually small (usually less than 1 cm in size). However, on rare occasions, large polyps may be noted
• Larger polyps may have surface ulceration resulting in bleeding

Diagnosis:

• Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps may be diagnosed incidentally when an endoscopy is performed for other health conditions
• Tissue biopsy of the polypoid mass can help achieve a definitive diagnosis
• Pathology microscopic features: Pathological examination of the tissue may reveal elongated hyperplastic gastric foveolar glands with branching and architectural distortion. The stroma around the gastric glands may be inflamed with edema
  • It is estimated that between 1-20% of these polyps may have foci of dysplasia
  • Approximately 2% of the Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps may have foci of carcinoma, especially when the polyps are greater than 1 cm in size
• The main differential diagnoses during a pathological examination is gastric fundic gland polyps and adenomatous gastric polyps

Complications:

• Excessive bleeding due to the polyps can result in iron deficiency anemia
• Large-sized polyps may cause stomach obstruction
• Rarely, malignancy may develop at the site of large polyps

Treatment:

• A complete removal of the polyp is curative 
• If focus of malignancy is noted, then further treatments are usually necessary, which are considered on a case-by-case basis

Prevention: Presently, it is not possible to prevent the formation of Gastric Hyperplastic Polyps.

Prognosis: If there is no dysplasia or malignancy detected in the polyp, the prognosis is generally excellent with suitable treatment.