Histopathological spectrum of lesions of upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopic biopsies

Abstract

Background: The upper gastrointestinal lesions, especially malignancies are most commonly encountered entity in clinical practice with high degree of mortality and morbidity. Introduction of flexible upper gastrointestinal fiber optic endoscope in 1968 proved to be major breakthrough for the diagnosis of lesions. The endoscopic evaluation followed by histopathological examination of the biopsy sample is currently the gold standard for accurate objective assessment of the patient. It not only helps to diagnose neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions but also for monitoring the course, extent of the disease, response to therapy and early detection of complications. Methods: A prospective cross sectional study of upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopic biopsies was carried out for one year period from August 2018 to July 2019. The present study included fifty nine (59) endoscopic biopsies of patients who underwent upper endoscopy procedure for various clinically diagnosed lesions demanding biopsy. Results: In the present study fifty nine (59) upper endoscopic biopsies were studied which included 33 (55.94%) esophageal, 21 (35.59%) gastric, 4 (6.77%) GEJ and 1 (1.69%) duodenal biopsy, among which 35 (59.32%) were of females and 24 (40.68%) were of males, with female: male ratio of 1.46:1. Majority were malignant lesions both in esophagus and gastric biopsies. Conclusion: The most common site for upper endoscopic biopsy was esophagus and the commonest lesion was malignancy. The upper gastrointestinal endoscopic evaluation followed by biopsy sampling of neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions complement each other in management of patients.