Help in understanding Endoscopy Results

[HepHubby]

I just had an endoscopy and was given a written report but it will be a month before I see the doctor to discuss it. Can anyone help explain the results?

"There was a probable 5 cm hiatal hernia."

I knew I had a hiatal hernia but just want to know is 5 cm bad?

"There was erosive esophagitis. LA class A."

I know what erosive esophagitis is but what does "LA class A" mean?

"nonerosive gastritis of the antrum"

What is this?

Any help understanding this is much appreciated.

[CalGal]

The damage to the part of the stomach they're talking about is either erosive or nonerosive based on the degree of damage. Nonerosive isn't as bad as erosive, and the changes that occur to the tissues from nonerosive are typically due to H. pylori, but could be due to other things, too. But the presence of H. pylori should be ruled out.

A 5 cm hiatal hernia (about 2 1/2 inches) is considered large or largish.

The LA class A erosive esophagitis is a 'mild' form.

The antrum is the lower part of the stomach.

In general, it looks like you should be checked for H. pylori, if they didn't do so during the endoscopy. That you've probably got gastritis due to an upregulation of the acidic contents of your stomach and that you're refluxing the bile into your esophagus.

[HepHubby]

Thanks. They did check for H. pylori but I won't know the result till I see the doctor. I had an endoscopy about 7 years ago and the doctor said something very similar. He did say that I did not have H. pylori at that time. He put me on Prevacid and I have been on it untill about 6 months ago. The prevacid was no longer working that well so the doctor switched me to Protonix.