Gastric biopsy with a modified Australian instrument.

Ordinary clinical methods supplemented by the use of x rays and gastroscopy fail to demonstrate an organic cause in many patients attending hospital with dyspepsia or anaemia. Many of these patients present difficulties in diagnosis and treatment, and the cause of their condition may be obscure. As part of a clinical study of dyspepsia and hypochromic anaemia we have' used the method of gastric biopsy to investigate the state of the gastric mucosa. The Australian biopsy tube (Wood et al., 1949) was chosen for this purpose and modified (Coghill and Wynn Williams, 1955). This paper describes modifications to the Australian instrument and outlines some experiences and difficulties in its use. Examples of results are given.