Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at a student health centre.

605 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed at a student health centre on university students under the age of 35. Some abnormality, and sometimes more than one, was found in 291 (48.0%) patients. 93 (15.4%) had chronic superficial gastritis, 36 (5.9%) acute gastritis, three had atrophic gastritis, and two eosinophilic gastritis. 53 patients (8.7%) had an oesophageal abnormality. Coeliac disease was found in 16 (2.6%) and new cases of duodenal ulcer in 14 (2.3%). 19 patients (3.1%) had gastric polyps. It is concluded that upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is a procedure well suited for primary health care, and that a significant proportion of young adults examined for abdominal complaints in such a setting will be found to have some abnormality.