In 1728, Georg Ernst Stahl, a German physician first used the term “gastritis” to describe inflammation of the inner lining of the stomach. In 1982, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall discovered Helicobacter pylori which further led to the identification and classification of different gastritides. In 1990, a new classification of gastritis called the Sydney system was presented to the World Congress of gastroenterology in Sydney and was later published as six papers in the Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology. In 1994, the updated Sydney System for the classification and grading of gastritis was introduced at the International Workshop on the histopathology of gastritis held at Houston. In 2005, gastritis staging using the OLGA (Operative Link on Gastritis Assessment) staging system for reporting gastric histology was introduced.

• In 1728, George Stahl first noted inflammation of the inner lining of the stomach as “gastritis”.
• In 1771, Giovanni Morgagni described “erosive” and “ulcerating gastritis”.
• In 1855, Baron Carl von Rokitansky described “hypertrophic gastritis”.
• In 1870, Samuel Fenwick described gastric atrophy.
• In 1944, Warren & Meissner described intestinal metaplasia as feature of chronic gastritis.
• In 1947, Sir Ian Jeffreys Wood, performed first gastric biopsy with semi-flexible biopsy tube and defined “gastritis” by histopathology.
• In 1956, Louis Streifeneder and Eddy Palmer introduced flexible fiber optic endoscope.
• In 1982, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall discovered Helicobacter pylori which further led to the identification and classification of different gastritides.^[1]
• In 1990, a new classification of gastritis called the Sydney system was presented to the World Congress of gastroenterology in Sydney and was later published as six papers in the Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology.^[2][3]
• In 1994, the updated Sydney system for the classification and grading of gastritis was introduced at the international workshop on the histopathology of gastritis held at Houston.^[3]
• In 2005, gastritis staging using the OLGA (Operative Link on Gastritis Assessment) staging system for reporting gastric histology was introduced. Gastritis staging combines the atrophy score which is determined by biopsy and the atrophy topography which is determined by directed biopsy mapping.^[4][5]

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