Randomised placebo-controlled double-blind trial of two dosages of sodium cromoglycate in treatment of varioliform gastritis: comparison with cimetidine.

Eighteen patients with diffuse varioliform gastritis were enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of sodium cromoglycate, 200 mg a day, and sodium cromoglycate, 400 mg a day, for 28 days. An additional six patients were treated with cimetidine 1 g daily for 28 days. The improvement in terms of patient's subjective assessment, endoscopic assessment, and immunohistochemical measurements of IgE cells in the mucosa was significantly greater in patients given sodium cromoglycate than that in those given cimetidine or placebo. The results provide evidence that type 1 hypersensitivity plays some part in the pathogenesis of varioliform gastritis. It is, therefore, important to differentiate this condition from other types of gastritis, as treatment with sodium cromoglycate appears to be affective.