title: Gastric carcinoids--a changing trend.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gastric carcinoids (GC) are rare tumors. Recent studies have reported a higher frequency of GC, with these constituting 10%-30% of all carcinoid tumors. We have observed GC more frequently at our institute in recent years than in the past.
  
  
  METHODS
  Endoscopy reports from January 1997 to June 2003 were reviewed to identify patients with GC. For these patients, biopsy specimens were reviewed and details of clinical features were extracted from case records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventeen patients with GC (aged 27 to 76 years; 11 men) were identified; in comparison, there had been only 8 cases in the previous 16 years. Of these, 14 patients had multiple tumors; these were located in the fundus (n = 6), fundus and proximal body (4), and body (4) of the stomach. Three patients had solitary tumors in the antrum. The tumor size ranged from pinhead to 4 cm. Etiologically, 13 patients had type 1 GC (associated with chronic atrophic gastritis type A), one had type 2 GC (associated with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome; multiple endocrine neoplasia 1) and three had type 3 GC (sporadic). Treatment included total gastrectomy (2), distal gastrectomy (2), tumor excision (1), endoscopic polypectomy (3), and vitamin B12 supplementation with surveillance (9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data show an increase in diagnosis of GC, similar to reports from Western countries. The rise is in the proportion of GC associated with atrophic gastritis. Whether this reflects a higher frequency of detection due to more endoscopic biopsy sampling or due to some other reason needs investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Diseases and Clinical Nutrition, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai 400 012.
authors.forename: Vinayak
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hegde
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Mohandas
authors.forename: Mukta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramadwar
authors.forename: Parul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shukla
authors.forename: Shaesta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002276:Carcinoid Tumor / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery