ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the Helicobacter pylori gastritis and its relationship to peptic ulcer and gastric cancer (GCA). H. pylori is the major cause of chronic gastritis, which increases the risk of peptic ulcer, and is an important factor for the development of much gastric cancer. The relationship between H. pylori infection and chronic gastritis is the key to understanding the sequelae of H. pylori gastritis, such as peptic ulcer disease or GCA. Acute gastritides are characterized by infiltration of the gastric mucosa entirely by granulocytic neutrophils, and some of these are caused by H. pylori acquisition. In the early stage of chronic gastritis after H. pylori acquisition inflammatory round cells appear in the lamina propria of the gastric mucosa. Overt inflammatory duodenitis develops in connection with H. pylori gastritis: the metaplastic epithelium is colonized by H. pylori. An association between chronic gastritis, H. pylori infection, and peptic ulceration is strong.
