A histomorphological assessment of endoscopic biopsies in patients with upper gastrointestinal diseases in a tertiary hospital setting in Nigeria

This is a prospective, observational and descriptive study of all the upper gastrointestinal endoscopies (UGIE) that were performed between January 2020 and December 2022. All UGIE and biopsies were performed by one endoscopist. Clinical information on age, sex, presenting complains, endoscopic findings and provisional diagnosis were retrieved from laboratory forms. Results: A total of 273 biopsies were obtained from 181 patients, 6 (2.2%) from the upper and lower esophagus sphincter, 180 (65.9%) from different parts of the gastrum and 87 (31.9%) from the first and second parts of the duodenum. The most common indication for upper endoscopy was dyspepsia. Of all the esophageal biopsies, 83.3% of them had no pathology. Only 3 (1.6%) cases of the gastric biopsies were histologically confirmed to be gastric adenocarcinoma. The vast majority of the gastric lesions were inflammatory. Chronic gastritis was seen in 92.7% of cases. Only one (1.1%) case of malignant duodenal lesion was seen (1.1%). Of the 273 UGIE biopsies, only 4 (1.5%) malignant lesions were seen. Conclusion: A baseline data of the pattern of UGIE in Akwa Ibom State has been documented. Chronic gastritis is very common, while esophageal lesions and gastric malignancies are rare.