Loading...
The hypergastrinemia associated with long-term proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy is suspected of causing enterochromaffin cell-like (ECL) hyperplasia or even carcinoid tumors in the developing stomachs of children.
To address this issue, investigators in Canada retrospectively reviewed sequential gastric biopsies from 65 children who received PPI therapy for >9 months (median, 2.29 years). The median age of patients at the time of first biopsy was 8.2 years (range, <1–17 years). Biopsy tissue was stained to identify ECL cells and was read by a pathologist who was blinded to the timing of the biopsies.
ECL hyperplasia was found in 40 of 65 patients (9 patients had ECL hyperplasia prior to PPI therapy) and in 82 of 458 biopsies (67 biopsies h…