• Ayobanji E Ayoola, Hussein M Ageely, Mohammed O Gadour, and Ved P Pathak.
• Division of Gastroenterology, King Fahd Central Hospital, Gizan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. bayoola@aol.com
• Saudi Med J. 2004 Oct 1; 25 (10): 1433-8.

ObjectiveHelicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a major cause of various upper gastrointestinal (UGI) disorders. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of H. pylori among patients with dyspepsia.MethodsA prospective study was carried out in the Gastroenterology Division, King Fahd Central Hospital, Gizan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January 1995 to December 1998. Four hundred and eighty-eight patients with dyspepsia were consecutively examined using the UGI endoscopy during a 4-year period. Data analyzed included demographic details, clinical indications for the examination, endoscopic findings and results of the histopathologic assessment for H. pylori.ResultsOverall, H. pylori were detected in 268 (54.9%) of the gastric biopsies from 488 patients (322 males and 166 females, aged 13-90 years). Helicobacter pylori infection was present in 140 (60.1%) of 253 patients with chronic gastritis diagnosed by endoscopy and in 49 (62.8%) of 78 patients with duodenal ulcers (DU). The rate in DU patients was significantly higher than the rate (43.6%) in patients with normal endoscopic findings (odds ratio [OR]=2.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-4.70; p=0.04]. Of 455 biopsies with histologic gastritis, 268 (OR=58.9%, 95% CI 54.2-63.4) were positive for H. pylori and all specimens (n=33) with no histological evidence of gastritis were negative.ConclusionThe well-described association of H. pylori with DU and non-ulcer dyspepsia was confirmed by our study. However, the rate of H. pylori in our patients was at the lower end of the range (50-80%), which was previously reported among largely urban populations in Saudi Arabia suggests differences in the prevalence of H. pylori-infections between urbanized and rural populations. Helicobacter pylori negative peptic ulcer disease remains an important entity that may be associated with the use of non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs and in our environment, the habitual chewing of qat leaves (catha edulis).

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