[Campylobacter pylori--status of knowledge from the morphologic viewpoint].

The morphological alterations of the gastric mucosa due to Campylobacter pylori (C.p.) were examined with high resolution light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. On the ultrastructural level the number and distribution of bacteria were correlated to the extent of the inflammatory resp. degenerative epithelial alterations. Intestinal metaplasia was always free of bacteria, even with strong colonization of the residual mucosa. In comparison to the gastric mucosa in the IM the cellular disintegration was less strongly developed. The topographical distribution of C.p. was studied on two ulcer resection specimens and documented by means of "campylobacter-mapping". Contrary to the subjective impression made by stomach biopsies, the bacterial colonization examined was not patchy, but rather it was evenly distributed. The association between C.p. and duodenal ulcer, made in most literature, relies primary on cultural, or morphological studies of the antrum mucosa, thereby actually representing the correlation of C.p. to the accompanying gastric inflammation. An analysis of the detection methods--morphological, cultural, and the urease-test--confirms the significance of morphological methods in the diagnosis of C.p.-infection.