Campylobacter pylori in peptic ulcer disease. III. Symptoms and paraclinical and epidemiologic findings.

Only a few publications have dealt with the subjective symptoms, the paraclinical findings, or the epidemiology in relation to cultivation of C. pylori. Seventy-two patients answered a questionnaire containing questions about symptoms, dietary habits, smoking, and animal contact. C. pylori was cultivated from the biopsy specimens of 41 of these patients, and 31 were culture-negative. In addition, leukocyte count, differential count, and blood immunoglobulins were measured. In many culture-positive patients a variation in symptoms during the year was found, and symptoms had lasted more than 5 years. This was statistically significant for non-ulcer patients. In addition, we found initial abdominal pain and present vomiting to be significant features, but they did not seem to have any clinical significance. Unlike Marshall & Warren, we did not find ructus to be related to infections with C. pylori. In all other respects we found no differences between culture-negative and culture-positive patients. It was not possible to detect any descriptive variables in patients with C. pylori infections.