Gastritis--a clinical entity?

Clinicians, endoscopists, and pathologists define gastritis in different ways. Pathoanatomical gastritis is very common and the prevalence increases with age. Patients submitted to routine endoscopy were interviewed before endoscopy and biopsies were taken from gastric antrum and body. No correlation could be found between upper abdominal dyspepsia, endoscopic signs suggesting gastritis, and histological gastritis. Gastritis does not seem to constitute a clinical entity within non-ulcer dyspepsia.