Article

Helicobacter pylori infection in children: prevalence, diagnosis and treatment outcome.

Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226 014, India.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (impact factor: 2.16). 04/2006; 100(3):227-33. DOI:10.1016/j.trstmh.2005.03.009
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT The clinical significance of Helicobacter pylori infection in children remains largely unknown. The rate of acquisition at different ages has not been ascertained using reliable tests on gastric biopsies. We determined prospectively the prevalence of H. pylori infection in children and its association with gastroduodenal disease. We evaluated 240 children undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for H. pylori infection by rapid urease test, culture, ureA PCR and histopathology. Group I constituted 58 children with upper abdominal pain (UAP) and group II (controls) of 182 children without UAP who underwent diagnostic or therapeutic endoscopy for other reasons. Helicobacter pylori-positive children with UAP received anti-H. pylori therapy. Helicobacter pylori infection was significantly higher in children with UAP than controls (53.4% vs. 28%; P<0.001) and overall prevalence increased with age. On follow-up endoscopy, H. pylori had been eradicated from 82% of children with UAP; it was eradicated from the remaining 18% after a second regimen. Treated H. pylori-positive children with UAP remained symptom-free for a median of 25 months. Control children remained chronically H. pylori infected. Chronic inflammation was present in all infected children, and active inflammation in 48.8%. The study shows H. pylori infection increases with age and is strongly linked to UAP in children.

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    Article: Helicobacter pylori infection in Saudi children; clinical, endoscopic and pathological findings
    Omar I. Saadah
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    ABSTRACT: Background and study aims: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is common in the Saudi paediatric population. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical presentation, endoscopic abnormalities and associated histopathological changes in a group of Saudi children with H. pylori infection. Patients and methods: This is a chart review of all Saudi children diagnosed at King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between September 2001 and July 2005 with H. pylori infection. Results: A total of 230 children were identified. One hundred and thiry six (55%) were females. The mean age was 11 ± 3.9 years (range, 2–17). Thirty-two (14%) were underweight and 12 (5%) were stunted. The main symptom was epigastric pain in 128 (56%). Nodular gastritis was the most frequent endoscopic finding in 94 patients (40%). The histopathological findings in the antrum showed moderate chronic inflammatory activity in 65%, mild glandular atrophy in 14% and intestinal metaplasia in 2%. In the corpus, moderate chronic inflammatory activity was found in more than 50%, glandular atrophy in 7%, and no cases with intestinal metaplasia. The density of H. pylori in the antrum was mild in 67% and moderate in 26% of cases. In the corpus, it was mild in 49% and moderate in 21% of patients.The mean gastritis score was 4.2 ± 1.3 in the antrum and 3.4 ± 1.3 in the corpus. Nodular gastritis was associated with the highest mean gastritis score of 4.9 ± 1.2 in the antrum (ANOVA < 0.001). The severity of gastritis in the antrum and the corpus was associated with higher density of H. pylori (ANOVA < 0.001). Conclusion: Saudi children with H. pylori infection were commonly found to have abnormal endoscopic findings which were associated with significant gastric mucosal inflammation.
    Arab Journal of Gastroenterology. 01/2010; 11:39–43.
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Keywords

240 children undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy
 
active inflammation
 
Chronic inflammation
 
chronically H. pylori
 
clinical significance
 
Control children
 
follow-up endoscopy
 
gastric biopsies
 
group II
 
H. pylori
 
H. pylori infection
 
H. pylori infection increases
 
Helicobacter pylori infection
 
Helicobacter pylori-positive children
 
rapid urease test
 
reliable tests
 
remaining 18%
 
therapeutic endoscopy
 
Treated H. pylori-positive children
 
upper abdominal pain