Acute gastritis is a broad term that encompasses a myriad of causes of gastric mucosal inflammation.
On this page:
Epidemiology
It depends on the etiology (see below).
Clinical presentation
- asymptomatic
- epigastric pain/tenderness
- nausea and vomiting
- loss of appetite
Pathology
Etiology
- infection: H. pylori (most common)
- systemic illness: trauma and burns
- pharmacological/medication: NSAIDs
- autoimmune
- caustic ingestion
- acid/alkali ingestion
-
immunosuppression/AIDS-related
- cytomegalovirus
- Candida albicans
- histoplasmosis
- cryptosporidiosis
- toxoplasmosis
- eosinophilic gastritis
Radiographic features
CT
CT findings can suggest gastritis and detect complications such as gastric perforation, however, often gastritis and tumors cannot be easily differentiated on CT. Moreover, the causes of gastritis cannot be determined on CT. Both circumstances require clinical/lab correlation, probable endoscopy examination, and tissue biopsy 1,2.
CT findings suggestive of gastritis include:
- gastric wall edema: measuring the HU may be useful to differentiate edema from low attenuation neoplastic lesion
- halo sign: mucosal enhancement surrounded by submucosal and gastric wall edema