Gastric Histopathologic Findings Are Similar in Portal Hypertension Patients With and Without Endoscopic Portal Hypertensive Gastropathy

Objectives Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is a diagnosis made based on endoscopic findings in the appropriate clinical setting. Biopsy may be taken during endoscopy for correlation, but the pathologist may encounter a myriad of nonspecific histologic findings. We undertook this study to evaluate contexts where a histologic diagnosis of PHG might be rendered on biopsy. Methods Two cohorts were established: stomach biopsy specimens from patients with cirrhosis or undergoing varices screening (n = 188) and stomach biopsy specimens with findings interpreted as PHG in the pathology report (n = 29). Results In the first cohort, cases with endoscopic varices more frequently displayed foveolar hyperplasia and acute inflammation, with no other histologic differences between cases with and without endoscopic PHG, clinical varices, and clinical cirrhosis. Cases from the second cohort showed no histologic differences when stratified for endoscopic PHG, endoscopic varices, and clinical cirrhosis. Our second cohort displayed the majority of charted histologic findings more frequently than the first. Our results indicate that neither an endoscopic appearance of PHG nor particular clinical diagnoses associated with PHG translate into specific histologic findings. Conclusions Although the histologic findings charted displayed increased frequency in pathology reports with an interpretation of PHG, histology should not be used reliably in the diagnosis of PHG.