Objective: Data on clinical presentation and associated features of patients with type 1 gastric carcinoids (T1-GCs) are scanty. This study aimed to provide detailed data on a series of patients with T1-GCs.
Material and methods: Clinical, laboratory, endoscopic, and histological data were assessed from 31 T1-GCs patients (cross-sectional design), consecutively diagnosed in a tertiary center according to a standardized diagnostic protocol. T1-GCs were diagnosed at baseline or follow-up gastroscopy for atrophic gastritis in 74.2% and 25.8% of patients, respectively.
Results: Seventy-one percent of T1-GC patients were female. Age ranged from 23 to 78 (median 58 years). T1-GCs were more frequently diagnosed between 40-49 years (35.5%) and 60-69 years (32.3%) (p = 0.0383). Thyroid disease was present in 54.8% (in 29% autoimmune). All 31 patients had either cobalamin or iron deficiency with or without anemia. Manifest pernicious anemia was present in 67.7% of patients and cobalamin deficiency without anemia in 9.7% patients. Iron deficiency anemia was present in 29% and iron deficiency without anemia in 12.9% of patients. In 48.4% of patients, T1-GCs appeared as polyps, which were single in all cases and had a median size of 4 mm (range 2-15 mm). In patients with polypoid T1-GCs, thyroid disease of autoimmune and nonautoimmune origin (p = 0.0181) was more frequently associated.
Conclusion: This study shows that T1-GCs may be diagnosed at any age. Autoimmune features are frequently present as well as cobalamin and iron deficiency. The copresence of autoimmune diseases and micronutrient deficiencies should be accurately investigated, in particular in patients with polypoid T1-GCs.
Keywords: atrophic gastritis; autoimmune gastritis; iron deficiency anemia; pernicious anemia; type 1 gastric carcinoids.