Natural history of fundic gland polyposis without familial adenomatosis coli: follow-up observations in 31 patients

PURPOSE: To clarify the natural history of fundic gland polyposis (FGP) without familial adenomatosis coli (FAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-one FGP patients without FAC (six men and 25 women) were followed up with radiography and endoscopy for 1-13 years (mean, 4.3 years). RESULTS: In eight of 11 patients who initially had a single polyp, the polyp disappeared, probably due to endoscopic forceps biopsy. Of 20 patients with multiple polyps, seven (one man and six women with a mean age of 40.6 years at initial diagnosis) had obvious changes in the number of polyps, including complete disappearance in three patients, a decrease in one, transient disappearance followed by recurrence in two, and an increase in one. These patients were younger and had a greater number of polyps at initial diagnosis than the remaining 16 patients without any remarkable change. CONCLUSION: FGP without FAC is characterized by spontaneous decrease or increase in the number of polyps, especially in middle-aged female patients wi...