Abstract
Enlarged folds in the gastric corpus are often observed during radiographic or endoscopic examination of adults. A major cause of enlarged gastric folds is Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) -induced enlarged fold gastritis. The characteristics of H. pylori-induced enlarged fold gastritis are accompanied by foveolar hyperplasia, a massive infiltration of inflammatory cells into the corpus mucosa and hypochlorhydria. The odds ratio for gastric cancer and the prevalence of diffuse type early gastric cancer in the corpus region tend to increase with increasing fold width. With the eradication of H. pylori, fold width improves, dirty mucus disappears and these factors recover to within the normal range. As a result, identifying the gastric cancer becomes easier. Enlarged fold gastritis may be a major risk factor for gastric cancer among H. pylori-infected persons. Further studies are necessary to elucidate whether eradication of H. pylori is effective for the prevention of gastric cancer in H. pylori-infected persons with enlarged fold gastritis.
