Helicobacter pylori incidence in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy biopsies

INTRODUCTION: The incidence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) has been investigated in several studies. The bacteria can cause many diseases, such as atrophic gastritis, ulcers, dyspepsia, and gastric adenocarcinoma. Therefore, it is important to look for HP even in individuals who do not have any macroscopic findings on endoscopy and pursue eradication in positive cases. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and pathological association of HP in gastric biopsies.
METHODS: Patients who underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at the general surgery clinic between January 2014 and January 2015 were included in the study. Hospital registry system data of demographic details, admission complaints, and endoscopic findings were evaluated retrospectively. Patients who had a malignancy or who underwent an emergency endoscopy for gastrointestinal bleeding were excluded from the study.
RESULTS: A total of 325 patients were included in the study. In the group, 185 (56.9%) were female and 140 (43.1%) were male. The mean age was 58 years (range: 18–89 years). The most common complaint was epigastric pain. Biopsies were taken from the gastric antrum in 295 of the patients. The mean number of biopsies was 1.5 (range: 1–5). Active gastritis was present in 245. In 111 of the patients, HP was moderately or strongly positive, in 91 cases it was mild, and in 43 of the patients, the result was negative. Of the 80 patients without any gastritis, 4 had mild positive staining results in the final pathology reports, while 2 had moderate or severe findings (p<0.0001).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a high probability of HP positivity in patients examined for gastritis. Routine biopsy may not be advisable in high–risk patients. Prospective studies are needed to further investigate these findings.