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In a prospective study of 40 patients with gastric lymphoma, color photography and directed biopsy were performed routinely.Brush cytology was obtained in 20. When compared with a previous series, there was slight improvement in gross diagnosis, but the sole distinctive characteristic was a peculiar "volcano-like" ulcer crater noted in 9/30 patients with reticulum cell sarcoma. Directed biopsy was positive in 35/40 patients, and brush cytology in 4/20. Directed gastroscopic biopsy appears to be a highly accurate means of diagnosis in gastric lymphoma, in contrast to gross diagnosis by either roentgenography or gastroscopy.

Gastric mucosal reaction is a common effect of orally administered analgesic drugs. This effect was confirmed by the authors in an elaborate, crossover study. Aspirin and indomethacin induced the most marked reaction. Ibuprofin, a new analgesic agent, provoked the least reaction and the fewest symptoms. Acute gastric mucosal erosions were often seen in subjects with little or no distress, thus accounting for asymptomatic bleeding as clinically encountered in such situations.

Swizzle sticks may be hazardous to one's health. Two extraordinary cases of swizzle sticks impaled in stomachs rather than in olives are described. In the first, the reaction was acute and promptly remedied by gastrotomy. In the second, the presentation was after protracted symptoms, and subtotal gastrectomy revealed chronic foreign body reaction previously thought to be neoplasm. This newly described source of gastric injury, although rare, must be considered in any patient who freely imbibes and presents with gastrointestinal symptoms, acute or chronic.