[Chronic gastritis associated to Helicobacter pylori in patients with non-ulcerating dyspepsia and with duodenal ulcer].

PURPOSE

Prevalence of chronic gastritis and infection of the gastric mucosa by Helicobacter pylori in patients with non-ulcerating dyspepsia and duodenal ulcer. TYPE OF STUDY, SITE, PATIENTS: A prospective study was made of 48 consecutive patients with non-ulcerating dyspepsia of the dismotility type (NUD), and 13 consecutive patients with duodenal ulcer in activity (DU), selected from the gastroenterology outpatient clinic of the Clinical Hospital of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp).

INTERVENTIONS

Eight endoscopic biopsies (4 of the body and 4 of the gastric antrum) were performed on each of the patients to identify H. pylori, using three tests: urease, gram and histopathological examination.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

Of the 48 patients with NUD, urease test was positive in 89.6% in the antrum and in 81.2% in the body; gram test was positive in 81.2% in the antrum and in 77.1% in the body; and H. pylori was identified in the histopathological examination in 79.2% in the antrum and in 70.8% in the gastric body. At least one of the three tests applied was positive in the mucosa of the gastric antrum in all 48 patients with NUD. In all 13 patients with DU, the three tests were positive in the gastric antrum, all of them with chronic gastritis of the antrum in the histopathological examination. Chronic gastritis of the gastric body with presence of H. pylori in the histopathological examination was found in 10 out of 13 patients. The urease test was positive in the mucosa of the gastric body in all DU cases.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors believed that the high prevalence of the tests used to identify H. pylori in patients with NUD can be explained by the selected group of patients, which belong to the low socio-economic class. The presence of H. pylori in the gastric mucosa of all patients with DU agrees with studies already published.