Diagnostic practices and variability in autoimmune gastritis: a national survey of gastrointestinal…

Cross-sectionalAmerican journal of clinical pathology· Jun 2026

Diagnostic practices and variability in autoimmune gastritis: a national survey of gastrointestinal pathologists.

Muhammad Hassaan Khalid, Asad Ur Rehman, Bennett Phuoc Christie-Nguyen … Rossana Kazemimood

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Gastrointestinal & Liver PathologyCross-sectionalQ2IF 2.0

Only 22% of pathologists report autoimmune gastritis in the main pathology report.

Diagnostic practices and variability in autoimmune gastritis: a national survey of gastrointestinal pathologists.

Muhammad Hassaan Khalid … Rossana Kazemimood

American journal of clinical pathology · Jun 2026 · Q2 in Pathology

Background

Autoimmune gastritis (autoimmune gastritis) is characterized by well-described histologic features, yet diagnostic thresholds and reporting practices vary in routine pathology practice.

Purpose

This study aimed to characterize variability in evaluation, ancillary testing, and reporting of autoimmune gastritis across diverse pathology practice settings and training backgrounds.

Methods

We conducted a national, anonymized, cross-sectional online survey for practicing pathologists who routinely sign out gastric biopsies.

n = 163 pathologists

Results

Most autoimmune gastritis diagnoses appear only in comments, not the main report, risking missed communication.

22%

Reported in main repor

43%

Reported in comments

More results

A total of 163 pathologists completed the survey.

In all, 52% of respondents routinely ordered gastrin immunohistochemistry in random gastric biopsies.

More results

Academic settings were associated with greater reporting detail, while gastrointestinal pathology fellowship training was associated with the use of qualifying terminology such as "early" or "suspicious" autoimmune gastritis (P = .01).

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Diagnostic evaluation and reporting of autoimmune gastritis remain highly variable and are associated with subspecialty training, practice environment, and years of experience.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

These findings highlight the need for consensus-based guidance to improve consistency, communication, and clinical integration of autoimmune gastritis diagnoses.

Diagnostic practices and variability in autoimmune gastritis: a national survey of gastrointestinal pathologists.

Diagnostic practices and variability in autoimmune gastritis: a national survey of gastrointestinal pathologists.

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